Since May 2010, ALL links to content concerning
poverty reduction strategies and campaigns have been moved to the above
page from the individual provincial/territorial pages, including government
and NGO links.

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Disability payments should be boosted in
next B.C. budget, advocates and experts sayhttp://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/disability-payments-should-be-boosted-in-next-b-c-budget-advocates-and-experts-say
By Lori Culbert and Tracy Sherlock
January 13, 2017
Teresa McKerracher is one of more than 100,000 British Columbians who rely on
provincial disability payments, which give her $983 a month for rent, food,
transportation and other essentials. Last years
provincial budget raised disability rates for the first time in a decade, but
for her it was by the equivalent of $11  and she is desperate for a much
bigger boost this year.

Number of British Columbians on EI and welfare jumps:https://thetyee.ca/News/2016/12/22/BC-EI-Welfare-Jumps/
December 22, 2016
The number of people receiving federal Employment Insurance benefits increased
across British Columbia in October, with some parts of the province seeing increases
from a year ago of up to 138 per cent. B.C. had the third largest increase in
EI beneficiaries in Canada from September to October, behind only Saskatchewan
and Alberta, Statistics Canada reported this week.

Campaign 2000 releases 2016 Report Cardhttp://campaign2000.ca/490-2/
November 24, 2016
Campaign 2000 released its 2016 annual Report Card on Child and Family Poverty
in Canada on Thursday, November 24, in Ottawa. This date marks 27 years since
the unanimous House of Commons resolution to end child poverty in Canada
and seven years after the entire House of Commons voted to develop an
immediate plan to end poverty for all in Canada.

Don't Believe Claims $15 Minimum Wage Will
Cost Jobs
Both research and BC experience support NDP's plan to boost it over four years.http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2016/06/30/15-Dollar-Minimum-Wage/
By Paul Willcocks
30 June 2016
The minimum wage is a good test of political core principles. We've mostly agreed
the state has a role in setting minimum pay. Just because someone can only command
$10 a day in the marketplace doesn't mean an employer should be able to pay
that little. The question then becomes what's a fair, pragmatic minimum wage.

Gordon Campbell's government froze the minimum wage for a decade,
effectively rejecting the whole concept. Clark introduced a big increase, and
then did stood by as the province once again came to have the lowest minimum
wage in Canada at $10.45. (Increases planned for Sept. 15 this year and in 2017
will take the rate to $11.25.)

NDP leader John Horgan's promise of a $15 minimum wage is sound
policy -- and a way to stake out an approach starkly different from the Liberal
record over four terms in government.

Report on Single Parents, Welfare and Work:
SPARC BC, First Call, SFU and Single Mothers Alliance Call for Changehttp://firstcallbc.org/publications/walking-the-line-report-on-single-parents-sparc-bc-first-call-sfu-and-single-mothers-alliance-call-for-change/
News Release
January 18, 2016
Navigating British Columbias social assistance system can be challenging.
This report, Walking the Line to Put Their Families First: Lone Mothers Navigating
Welfare and Work in British Columbia, shares the stories and experiences of
single-parent families and the struggles they face in meeting their everyday
needs. Income assistance rates in British Columbia have not increased since
2007, which means that single parents and their children who rely on this form
of assistance continue to fall further behind as the cost of housing and other
basic essentials continue to increase.

Complete report:

Walking the Line to Put Their Families First
Lone Mothers Navigating Welfare and Work in British Columbia (PDF -
767KB, 31 pages)http://firstcallbc.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Walking-the-Line-Single-Mothers-Welfare-and-Work-FirstCall-2016-01.pdfOrganization Authors: Social Planning and Research Council of British
Columbia (SPARC BC), First Call BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition, Single
Mothers Alliance BCAcademic Authors: Jane Pulkingham, Sylvia Fuller, Marina Morrow, Sylvia
Parusel
January 2016 Contents:
* Guiding questions, research methods and approach to analysis
* Profile of lone mother research participants and lone parent households in
Metro Vancouver
* Four vignettes about lone mothers receiving income assistance in Metro Vancouver
* Recommendations and opportunities to help lone mothers and their children

BC Welfare Food Challenge runs November 3 to November
9http://welfarefoodchallenge.org/
2015 Welfare Food Challenge
The 4th Annual Welfare Food Challenge will run from Tuesday, November 3rd, to
Monday, November 9th.
Participants will only eat the food they can buy with $21.
Join the Challenge! You can sign up here.
Find out more
Read participants blogs, tweets, and FB posts
Read about the Prep for the Challenge
Read posts by some of the 2015 Participants

Why not honour Jean Swanson for her tireless
fight against legislated poverty?http://www.straight.com/news/484781/why-not-honour-jean-swanson-her-tireless-fight-against-legislated-poverty
By Charlie Smith
July 8th, 2015
(...) [Jean] Swanson is like a mirror, reminding politicians of their shortcomings
in serving the entire community. And that irritates some of them because they
don't like this being reflected back in their face. But
it doesn't mean that her contributions should go unrecognized. There are many
single parents in B.C. whose lives have been immeasurably improved by Jean Swanson.
It's time for the wider community, including MLAs in
the legislature, to acknowledge this.

Poverty and Deaths in British Columbia:
The Coroners Services Mandate and Why It Must Investigate (PDF
- 371KB, 20 pages)http://canadiansocialresearch.net/poverty_and_death_
in_ bc_may_2015.pdf
By Tim Richards and the UVic Poverty Law Club
May 2015
CONTENTS:
Report Overview
I. Introduction
II. Our Fundamental Concern
III. The Circumstance that was the Catalyst for this Report
IV. The Context of Who is Dying
V. The Coroners Office: A History of Adaptation
VI. The Coroners Service: Stirrings of Concern
VII. The Mandate of the Coroners Service: Legal Foundations
VIII. The Classification of Death System and Poverty
IX. Our Request to Investigate Poverty as a Contributing Cause of Death
X. The Obstacles We Face and Responses
XI. Conclusion
XII. Sources
---

The UVic Poverty Law Club and UVic Law Faculty Instructor Tim Richards are calling
upon the Coroners Service to investigate poverty as a contributing cause of
deaths in the province of British Columbia. This is in response to the deaths
of about 30 people who were attending the Our Place Society drop-in centre in
Victoria, B.C. over the summer and early fall of 2012. Our attempts to have
the Coroner investigate these deaths were unsuccessful.

However, through this work we realized that the
legislative mandate of the Coroners Office strongly supports its intervention
when doing so can prevent deaths. We believe this is the case as poverty is
contributing to deaths, and thus we are making this call. If you have comments
or questions about the report please contact Tim Richards at trichard@uvic.ca,
and if you would like information on the campaign that will happen this fall
please contact povertykills@gmail.com. The information for contacting the Chief
Coroner is on page 4 of the report.

Frozen: BC Welfare Rates Haven't Risen in Eight Yearshttp://thetyee.ca/News/2015/03/04/BC-Welfare-Rates-Freeze/
By Andrew MacLeod
4 Mar 2015
In a gesture to British Columbia's lower-income residents, the government last
month ended a much-reviled clawback on child support payments. But it did not
increase general welfare rates. In fact, income assistance rates haven't budged
for eight years. And the province's finance minister has no immediate plans
to raise rates.

Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation
in British Columbiahttp://www.fraserinstitute.org/research-news/display.aspx?id=22135
By Jason Clemens et al.
January 20, 2015
With heightened interest in how wages and non-wage benefits in the government
sector compare with those in the private sector, this study estimates wage differentials
between the government and private sector in British Columbia. It also evaluates
four available non-wage benefits in an attempt to quantify compensation differences
between the two sectors.
- includes an executive summary and an infographic showing how much better off
government employees are than people working in the private sector in many respects.

Complete study:

Comparing Government and
Private Sector Compensation in British Columbia (PDF - 1.2MB, 39 pages) http://goo.gl/wlScN4
The study is divided into three sections. The first reviews past research comparing
the compensation of public and private sector workers. The second presents and
explains the wage comparisons between the private and public sectors (broadly
defined) in British Columbia. It also presents a summary of the methodology
employed to compare and calculate differences in wages between the two sectors.
Finally, the third section compares available non-wage benefits such as pension
coverage, the age of retirement, job security, and absenteeism, to ascertain
the likelihood that there is also a premium for non-wage benefits in the government
compared to the private sector.

Source:
Fraser Institutehttp://www.fraserinstitute.org/
The Fraser Institute's vision is a free and prosperous world where individuals
benefit from greater choice, competitive markets, and personal responsibility.
[Especially the personal responsibility part.]

----------------------------------

Related link
from PressProgress:

Fraser Institute wonders if a good job
with good pay and a good pension is "fair"?http://www.pressprogress.ca/en/post/fraser-institute-wonders-if-good-job-good-pay-and-good-pension-fair
January 23, 2015
Is a job offering a good wage, good benefits and a pension at retirement a bad
thing? Many would say that sounds like a sound strategy to fuel the middle class
and protect purchasing power in retirement. But one free-market think tank questions
whether that's "fair." A new report from the Fraser Institute probes
that question by comparing public and private sector compensation in British
Columbia in 2013.

"Is it fair that a private-sector worker
working a similar job as a public-sector worker is getting paid less in terms
of total compensation?" asked Charles Lammam, the Fraser Institute's associate
director of tax and fiscal policy, and one of the authors of the report.

Good question, Fraser Institute.

---
Comment by Gilles:
HEAR, HEAR!
[So just how *did* The Fraser Institute avoid being audited by the Canada Revenue
Agency again??]
---

B.C. still has one of the highest poverty
rates in Canadahttp://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/policynote/2014/12/bc-still-has-one-highest-poverty-rates-canada
By Trish Garner
December 17, 2014
The latest poverty statistics were released by Statistics Canada last Wednesday,
and the data once again shows that British Columbia has one of the highest poverty
rates in Canada. Using the Low Income Cut-Off  After Tax (LICO-AT)
[ http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75f0002m/2012002/lico-sfr-eng.htm
] as the poverty line, 1 in 10 British Columbians are living in poverty. That's
469,000 people struggling to make ends meet. In relation to the rest of the
country, B.C. is tied third with Quebec after Ontario and Manitoba.
As always, there's a two-year delay in the data from Statistics Canada so these
numbers describe the situation from 2012. However, this year there's also another
challenge with the data -- it's produced from a new survey so we cannot compare
to previous years.
(...)
While the LICO-AT is a useful measure, in part because it gives us one of the
most conservative estimates of poverty and because the government themselves
have begun to use it, it has some big problems . (...) So let's look at the
Market Basket Measure (MBM) [ http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75f0002m/2013002/mbm-mpc-eng.htm
], which is based on up-to-date costs of an adequate standard of living and
reflects regional differences in living costs. (...) Using the MBM as a poverty
line, we find over 1 in 7 British Columbians living in poverty. That's a shocking
670,000 people. B.C. now has the second-highest poverty rate in Canada after
Nova Scotia.

[ Trish Garner is the Community Organizer with
the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition, a broad-based network of over 400 organizations
throughout B.C. calling on the government to implement a poverty reduction plan.
]

B.C. needs a poverty-reduction plan:
Evidence of the extent of poverty cannot be ignoredhttp://www.vancouversun.com/business/needs+poverty+reduction+plan/10420565/story.html
By Trish Garner
November 27, 2014
And then there was one. B.C. is now last province without a plan to tackle poverty.
Saskatchewan announced Oct. 22 in its throne speech it would commit to the development
of a poverty reduction strategy, making British Columbia the last province in
Canada without a plan to tackle poverty. This despite
the fact B.C. has the highest or second-highest poverty rate in the country,
depending on the poverty measure.
(...)
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, B.C.s Representative for Children and Youth,
chastises the government for failing to act on her recommendation for a provincial
strategy and action to reduce child poverty in Not Fully Invested:
A Follow-up Report on the Representatives Past Recommendations to Help
Vulnerable Children in B.C. [ http://goo.gl/vudmw
(PDF) ] , which was released in early October. [

The Campaign 2000 website[ http://www.campaign2000.ca/
] features report cards from provincial partners in Nova Scotia, Manitoba
and British Columbia, aas well as media releases from those provinces,
and an infographic featuring key findings and recommendations. Report
Cards from our other provincial partners, including Ontario, will be
released in early 2016.

Campaign 2000
British Columbia : 2014 Child Poverty Report Card(PDF - 4.8MB, 43 pages)http://www.campaign2000.ca/anniversaryreport/BCRC2014.pdfNovember 24, 2014
First Call has been tracking child and family poverty rates in BC for nearly
two decades. Our first provincial report card containing data for 1994 showed
that one in five (over 170,000) BC children were poor. It is profoundly disappointing
that 18 years later the data still shows that one in five (169,420) BC children
are poor.
(Source : Report, page 4)

First Call Coalition's 2014 BC Child Poverty
Report Cardhttp://still1in5.ca/
- incl. links to (1) the report card, (2) specific actions you can take to convince
the BC Government to act on the recommendations of this report, and (c) First
Calls Media Release about the Report Card and what other people are saying
about the report card findings.

Child Poverty Report Card: BC Shows Improvementhttp://thetyee.ca/News/2014/11/24/BC-Poverty-Report-Card/
By Katie Hyslop
November 24, 2014
British Columbia has the fifth highest child poverty rate in Canada, according
to the 2014 Child Poverty Report Card released today by First Call B.C. Child
and Youth Advocacy Coalition. It's an improvement from a year earlier when B.C.'s
rates were the highest in the country. But hold the celebration. Although Manitoba,
Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick surpass B.C. in child poverty, First
Call, a child advocacy group, says B.C.'s decrease is likely due to a change
in data availability.

NOTE : Click the link above, then scroll partway
down the next page for links to the following related articles:
* Warning: Child Poverty Is Hazardous to Our Health
* Not one of our kids is disposable, yet we keep them brain-damagingly poor.
* No Easy Numbers for Single Mom Poverty
* BC figures show sharp fall in their median income. But variable data hides
the real story.
* BC ties Manitoba for highest child poverty
* Read more: Rights + Justice, BC Politics

Campaign 2000 report card : Marking 25 Years since Canadas
House of Commons Unanimous Resolution to End Child Poverty in Canada http://www.campaign2000.ca/
November 24, 2014
Campaign 2000 released its new Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada
on Monday, November 24th in Toronto. This year marks 25 years since the unanimous
House of Commons resolution to end child poverty in Canada and five years
after the entire House of Commons voted to develop an immediate plan to
end poverty for all in Canada.

Child Poverty 25 Years Later: Action Long
Overdue (small PDF file, 2 pages)http://www.campaign2000.ca/anniversaryreport/PressReleaseRC2014EN.pdf
Media Release
With over 310,000 Canadian children using food banks each month, growing income
inequality and rising childcare and tuition costs, we cant afford to delay
any longer. We need real progress, for real people, now.

Source:
Campaign 2000http://www.campaign2000.ca/
Campaign 2000 is a non-partisan, cross-Canada network of 120 national, provincial
and community partner organizations committed to working to end child and family
poverty.

Wheres the fanfare for tackling poverty
effectively?
Connecting the dots between three political moments over three monthshttp://www.straight.com/news/696061/trish-garner-wheres-fanfare-tackling-poverty-effectively
By Trish Garner
July 29, 2014
On June 16, I attended the B.C. governments Disability Summit, the culmination
of a three-month public consultation process on disability in B.C. I watched
Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation Don McRae lead the audience
through the event. I felt the flurry of excitement as Premier Christy Clark
took to the stage to launch the governments new action plan, Accessibility
2024 [ http://engage.gov.bc.ca/disabilitywhitepaper/accessibility-2024/
], and then watched as she left as quickly as she had arrived. I heard business
leaders talk about the benefits of meaningful inclusion. And I saw cameras and
reporters focused on the front while the most important message came from protestors
on the outside.
(...)
On May 6, Opposition MLA Michelle Mungall introduced a members bill, the
Poverty Reduction and Economic Inclusion Act [ https://www.leg.bc.ca/40th2nd/1st_read/m212-1.htm
]. Since then, the premier has received hundreds of emails and letters from
organizations throughout B.C. asking her to support the proposed act.

B.C. has had the highest poverty rate in Canada
for the last 13 years and is now one of only two provinces without a poverty
reduction plan. Bill M 212 includes government responsibility, targets and timelines,
and strong accountability measuresfeatures that are critical to the success
of any plan, as the government has recognized in its disability action plan.
However, a comprehensive poverty reduction plan would have much more impact
and truly make B.C. the most progressive province in Canada with
no one left behind.

[ Author Trish Garner is the community organizer
for the B.C. Poverty Reduction Coalition. ]

The Cost of Eating in BC 2011 Report
(PDF file - 4.6MB, 16 pages) http://www.dietitians.ca/Downloadable-Content/Public/CostofEatingBC2011_FINAL.aspx
February 2012
Excerpt:
The Cost of Eating in BC has been published for over a decade to detail how
much it costs for individuals and families in BC to access an adequate amount
of food, to relate this cost to income, and to consider the reasons why many
people cannot meet this basic need.

In 2011, the provincial average cost of the nutritious food basket for a family
of four is $868.43 per month. Those earning minimum wage, receiving income assistance,
or facing other challenges (high rents, child care, or transportation costs,
for example) struggle to find ways to purchase food as well as meet their other
basic needs.

In the ten years that the Cost of Eating in BC
Report has been published, the situation has only gotten worse for individuals
and families earning low wages or receiving government assistance...

Thousands of low-income families in B.C.
face loss of federal co-op housing subsidieshttp://globalnews.ca/news/484219/thousands-of-low-income-families-in-b-c-face-loss-of-federal-co-op-housing-subsidies/
April 16, 2013
Thousands of British Columbians fear they will have to find a new home as federal
housing subsidy agreements with 1,500 B.C. households come to an end between
now and 2017. Ottawa stopped funding social housing nearly two decades ago,
but continued to provide operating subsidies for existing projects. Those time-limited
funding agreements are now expiring.
(...)
One-quarter of co-op homes in B.C. will come to the end of their federal
housing agreements  1,500 households by 2017 and 3,000 by 2020,
said Thom Armstrong, executive director of the Co-Operative Housing Federation
of B.C. [ http://www.chf.bc.ca/ ]

---

A more recent article from Global News:

Fears of evictions across Canada as feds end co-op housing
subsidyhttp://globalnews.ca/news/1100348/co-op-housing-subsidy-to-end/
January 22, 2014
By Erika Tucker and Vassy Kapelos
(Rental) subsidies have been provided to co-ops through agreements to pay the
mortgage, and most were established in the 1990s for 20 or 30-year terms. But
when the mortgage is paid, the subsidy ends. Nicholas Gazzard of the Co-operative
Housing Federation of Canada, said the point of the federal rental subsidy is
to allow people with low or fixed incomes to be able to pay rent.

Minister of State for Social Development Candice Bergen says
the end of the subsidy shouldnt come as a surprise. These housing
providers knew that these mortgages were coming up, they knew these agreements
would be ending because the mortgages are paid off, said Bergen. In
Ontario, more than 7,000 households are slated to lose their rental top-ups.
In Quebec, its nearly 6,000 and in British Columbia about 4,200 households.

Gazzard believes the problem is Canadas fragmented
housing landscape and could be resolved by getting provinces and feds
to solve the problem collectively.
(...)
But Bergen said the $1.25 billion over five years the federal government has
invested in affordable housing should be enough for the provinces to use for
social housing projects as needed.

2013 Report Cards on Child and Family Poverty- November 26
(From Campaign 2000)

Campaign 2000 and Its Regional Partners Release
New 2013 Report Cards on Child and Family Povertyhttp://www.campaign2000.ca/
November 26, 2013
Campaign 2000s annual Report Card on Child and Family Poverty
in Canada was released on Tuesday, November 26th in Ottawa. This year
marks 24 years since the unanimous House of Commons resolution
to end child poverty in Canada by 2000 and four years after the entire
House of Commons voted to develop an immediate plan to end poverty
for all in Canada.

National report card:

The 2013 national report card, entitled Canadas
REAL Economic Action Plan Begins with Poverty Eradication, highlights
the compelling reasons why the federal government needs to take leadership.
It presents the latest statistics on child and family poverty and makes
recommendations for all political parties. Federal party leaders have
been invited to respond to the report card.

Source:
Campaign 2000http://www.campaign2000.ca/
Campaign 2000 is a non-partisan, cross-Canada coalition of more than
120 national, provincial and community organizations committed to working
together to end child and family poverty in Canada, over 70 of which
are from Ontario.

Since May 2010, ALL links to content concerning
poverty reduction strategies and campaigns have been moved to the above
page from the individual provincial/territorial pages, including government
and NGO links.

Welfare's New Era: Survival of the Fittest -
July 2004 <=== valuable historical welfare information!
The Tyee, a British Columbia
based, online media site presented a four part series by Andrew MacLeod on the
BC Government's 'New Era' welfare policies.

Highly
recommended - excellent source of info on welfare reforms of the Campbell government
in BC since 2001!

Dietitians of Canada:http://www.dietitians.ca/
Dietitians of Canada (DC) is the national professional association for dietitians,
representing almost 6000 members at the local, provincial and national levels.
DC is one of the largest organizations of dietetic professionals in the world.

The Cost of Eating in British Columbia, 2011
(PDF - 4.7MB, 16 pages)http://goo.gl/U7CGh
Ensuring that individuals and families are food secure is more than
addressing the immediate need to feed our hungry citizens. The solution
rests in addressing the underlying factors that cause food insecurity,
specifically poverty and the food system.
Recommendations for change outlined in this report:
1. Establish a provincial poverty reduction strategy
2. Build affordable housing
3. Update income assistance to reflect the cost of living
4. Enact a living wage policy
5. Work toward sustainable food systems that no longer require food
banks

Source:
Dietitians of Canada:http://www.dietitians.ca/
Dietitians of Canada (DC) is the national professional association for dietitians,
representing almost 6000 members at the local, provincial and national levels.
DC is one of the largest organizations of dietetic professionals in the world.

The
Cost of Eating in BC 2009 (PDF - 4.6MB, 12 pages)
December 2009
Why do dietitians publish The Cost of Eating in BC report?
The purpose of the report is to bring attention to the fact that not all residents
of British Columbia have enough money to purchase healthy food.
The facts in BC:
 The 2009 monthly cost of the nutritious food basket for a family of
four is $872
 A family of four on income assistance would need more than 100% of
their income for shelter and food only

Left
Behind: A Comparison of Living Costs and Employment and Assistance Rates in
BC (PDF file - 593K, 36 pages)
December 2005
"The primary finding of this report is that it is harder for income assistance
recipients to make ends meet in 2005 than it was three years ago following
cuts to welfare benefit rates in 2002. Few material changes have been made
to welfare policy since the last edition of this report in 2002, in which
we described the significant reforms to welfare in BC made that year. However,
in the intervening years, inflation has continued to erode the meagre incomes
available to people receiving social assistance in BC. The already inadequate
benefit levels have remained static in spite of increasing costs, particularly
for shelter, heating, and transportation."
Source:
Social Planning and Research Council of BC

Disability Resource
Network of BC (DRN) --- British Columbia
"The Disability Resource Network (DRN) is a provincial organization
committed to providing programs and services, professional development,
resources and news events that affect individuals who have a disability
(disabilities), in the British Columbia Post Secondary Education system."
- incl. online info and links to BC Institutions - the World Health Organization
definition of disability - news and events - materials - info by type of
disability - etc.

Disability Without Poverty Networkhttp://www.bccpd.bc.ca/dwpnetwork.htm
In April 2011, the BC Coalition of People With Disabilities (BCCPD) formed
the Disability Without Poverty Network. In addition to the BCCPD, the Networks
members are the BC Association for Community Living (BCACL), Canadian Mental
Health Association - BC and Yukon Division (CMHA), Social Planning and Research
Council (SPARC) and the Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS).
The goal of our network is to develop positive recommendations for change
so that British Columbians who have a disability and who receive the Persons
with Disabilities Benefit (PWD) are not living in poverty,
- includes an abstract of the above paper and related links.

Overdue : The Case for Increasing the
Persons with Disabilities Benefit in BC (PDF - 776K, 19 pages) http://www.bccpd.bc.ca/docs/overdueincreasepwd.pdf
July 2012
Key proposals:
--- Increase the PWD ("Person with disabilities") benefit to $1,200
per month
--- Index the PWD benefit
--- Establish a shelter assistance program for people with disabilities
This paper makes a strong case that these changes are needed to help ensure
that PWD recipients are not living in poverty.

Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Councilhttp://dnchome.wordpress.com/The Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council (DNC) of formed in December
2009 under the initiative of the Carnegie Community Action Project, Vancouver
Area Network of Drug Users, and ACCESS for Chinese Canadians. We are a representative
group of Downtown Eastside residents who advocate for the needs, interests,
and aspirations of our neighbourhood.

Public-Private Partnership to Renovate
Single-Room Occupancy Hotels in the Downtown Eastsidehttp://www.fin.gc.ca/n12/12-024-eng.asp
March 2, 2012
Vancouver, British ColumbiaThe Government of Canada and the Province
of British Columbia today announced a public-private partnership (P3) to renovate
and restore 13 provincially owned Single-Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels housing
some 900 residents in Vancouvers Downtown Eastside (DTES) to provide
access to clean and safe social housing. Source:
Department of Finance Canadahttp://www.fin.gc.ca/

---

The other side of the story:(Link found on the
Povnet.org website)

Downtown Eastside Newspaper launchedhttp://www.povnet.org/node/4874
March 9, 2012
The Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council has released the first issue of
the DT Eastside Newspaper with a pull out poster of proposed condo development
in the DTES. The DNC wants to put the voices of low-income DTES residents
at the centre of action for social justice. They want to put 5000 copies of
this paper in hotels and other places throughout the DTES. They hope the paper
will help more people learn what's happening in their community and get involved
in making it better for the low-income people who live here now.Source:
PovNet.orghttp://www.povnet.org/

Economicus
ridiculous... exercises in miserly
minimalism
A consumer advice blog with a twist, written by two women (Daphne Moldowin
and Chrystal Ocean) who live far below the poverty line.
- includes:
* tips and tricks for getting by on next to nothing.
* discussion of systemic and societal barriers that people in households of
very low income confront daily - and what we do about them.
* heads-up about free stuff, discount deals, and other opportunities to save,
maybe even make, money
Authors: Chrystal Ocean describes herself as a Canadian social libertarian,
homeless activist (at times in both senses), democratic reformer, atheist,
founder of a group run by and for women in poverty, author of several blogs
and a book. She is founder of WISE
(Wellbeing through Inclusion Socially & Economically), a group for
and led by women in poverty. WISE folded in late 2006 due to cuts and changes
to Status of Women Canada grant eligibility criteria. Daphne Moldowin describes herself as an energetic advocate for women's
equality who actively encourages people to re-view their outlook on society's
treatment of women.

Policies
of Exclusion, Poverty & Health: : Stories from the front (2005)
A reading of the book Policies of Exclusion, Poverty & Health
Compiled, with Introduction and Reports by Chrystal Ocean
The purpose of this site is to enable the hosting of 24 podcasts, covering
the reading of the 2005 book Policies of Exclusion, Poverty & Health:
Stories from the front. Each episode of this audio book tells a story,
not only the stories of the 21 women, but also the larger story of their efforts
to organize and the barriers which continue to thwart their efforts. The last
page of the last report of the book reveals their hope and determination that
it not signal the end, but the beginning of meaningful change - for them,
for their families, and for their communities.
[Click the links in the left-hand margin to listen to the Introduction, the
21 women's testimonials and a summary of issues raised and recommendations
to help deal with those issues.]

End
Legislated Poverty (ELP)"End Legislated Poverty (ELP) is a coalition
of over 40 groups in BC, working together to educate and organize in order to
make governments reduce and end poverty. ELP is part of a larger international
movement fighting for the rights of people living in poverty."

Family Support InstituteThe Family Support Institute is a province wide organization
whose purpose is to support and strengthen families faced with the extraordinary
circumstances that come with having a family member who has a disability

First Call: BC Child
and Youth Advocacy Coalition
First call is a cross-sectoral, non-partisan coalition of provincial and regional
organizations, engaged communities and individuals whose aim is to raise public
awareness and mobilize communities around the importance of public policy
and social investments that support the well-being of children, youth and
families.

High child poverty rate and growing inequality
threaten BC's future prosperity (small PDF file)http://goo.gl/s9eea
News Release
November 21, 2012
The Child Poverty Report Card released today by First Call, the BC partner
in Campaign 2000, shows that British Columbia remains near the bottom of the
heap when it comes to most major measures of poverty. It also shows a growing
gap between families at the top and the bottom of the income scale. BCs
child poverty rate dropped to 14.3 percent in 2010, still the worst rate of
any province except Manitoba, and higher than the Canadian average of 13.7
percent, according to the latest figures published by Statistics Canada.

Report Highlights
(Excerpt from page 2 of the report)
* BC had an overall poverty rate of 15.5 percent  the worst rate of
any province in Canada using the before-tax low income cut-offs of Statistics
Canada as the measure of poverty.
* BC had the second worst child poverty rate at 14.3 percent  the worst
rate of any province except Manitoba.
* BC had the worst poverty rate of any province at 11.6 percent for children
living in two-parent families.
* BC had the most unequal distribution of income among rich and poor families
with children. The ratio of the average incomes of the richest ten percent
compared to the poorest ten percent was the worst of any province at 13.8
to one.

Source:
First Call: BC Child and
Youth Advocacy Coalitionhttp://www.firstcallbc.org/
First Call is a cross-sectoral, non-partisan coalition of provincial and regional
organizations, engaged communities and individuals whose aim is to raise public
awareness and mobilize communities around the importance of public policy
and social investments that support the well-being of children, youth and
families.

Government of Canada Missing in Action
on child poverty: Report (PDF - 196K, 1 page)http://www.campaign2000.ca/whatsnew/2012ReportCardPressRelease.pdf
News Release
November 21, 2012
TORONTO  More Canadian children live in poverty today than in 1989 and
the federal government is missing in action, says Laurel Rothman, National
Coordinator for Campaign 2000. Twenty-three years after the House of Commons
unanimously voted to work together to eliminate child poverty, the crisis
is worse. Today, one in seven Canadian children live in poverty  one
in four in First Nations communities  a reality that threatens
our countrys future through higher healthcare costs, lost productivity
and limited opportunities.

The 2012 report, entitled Needed: A Federal
Action Plan to Eradicate Child and Family Poverty in Canada calls on the
Federal Government to take a lead role in child and family poverty reduction.
Policy recommendations are offered to all political parties to redress the
persistence of child and family poverty in Canada.

Complete national report:

Needed: A Federal Action Plan to Eradicate
Child and Family Poverty in Canadahttp://www.campaign2000.ca/reportCards/national/C2000ReportCardNov2012.pdf
November 2012
[ Version française :http://www.campaign2000.ca/2012ReportCardFr.pdf
]
Without a national anti-poverty strategy, child and family poverty in Canada
will continue to grow, compromising the success of future generations and
threatening Canadas economic stability. Today, there are poverty reduction
strategies in seven of the ten provinces and even in some municipalities.
When it comes to eradicating child poverty, the Federal government is currently
an absentee partner. A coordinated federal action plan that sets significant
goals for poverty eradication, dedicates adequate financial and human resources
and mandates reporting of progress is vital for Canadas future. It is
also long overdue.

Source:
Campaign 2000 http://www.campaign2000.ca/
Campaign 2000 is a non-partisan, cross-Canada coalition of over 120 national,
provincial and community organizations, committed to working together to end
child and family poverty in Canada. Visit the Campaign 2000 website for a
complete list of partner organizations.

---

First Call critiques 'alleged' BC poverty
strategyhttp://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/BC-Politics/2012/08/01/First-Call-critiques-alleged-BC-poverty-strategy/
By Katie Hyslop
August 1, 2012
A child and youth advocacy organization is calling out the provincial government
for creating a poverty strategy without money for new programs and policies.The
provincial government's community-based poverty reduction strategy, announced
this past spring, will begin this fall in seven B.C. communities: Surrey,
New West Minster, Kamloops, Cranbrook, Prince George, Stewart, and Port Hardy.
If successful they plan to spread to 20 communities by the end of 2012, and
47 by 2015.

Organized around the idea there is no "one size fits
all" strategy for reducing poverty -- as distinct from the 11 province
and territory-wide strategies that exist or are in development -- government
officials will begin to work with 10 to 15 impoverished families in these
communities in September.

That's not enough to make a substantial dent in poverty in
B.C., let alone eradicate it, according to First Call: BC Child and Youth
Advocacy Coalition. In BC's "Alleged" Poverty Reduction Strategies
report released by First Call today, the organization says the strategy is
pointless without money and province-wide policies.

August 2012 BCS alleged poverty reductions strategies:
When is a strategy not a strategy? (PDF - 168K, 19 pages)http://goo.gl/hQ0Pv(...)
If the BC government wants to be taken seriously on poverty reduction, it
has to give top priority to income and barriers to earning income, such as
the lack of affordable child care. Regional strategies and community involvement
are important, but only if they complement action to boost the incomes of
poor families.

Our first recommendation to the province over the years has been to enact
a full-fledged poverty reduction strategy with specific targets for reducing
the poverty rate over time. All provincial and territorial governments in
Canada except for British Columbia and Saskatchewan have endorsed this approach.

Child poverty rate drops in British Columbia,
rates for all persons still the worst in Canadahttp://firstcallbc.org/pdfs/CurrentIssues/NR%20poverty%20stats.pdf
June 18, 2012
News Release
The child poverty rate in British Columbia dropped from 11.8 percent in 2009
to 10.5 percent in 2010, Statistics Canada reported today.
The latest BC rate was the second worst in Canada after the rate of 11.1 percent
in Manitoba. Previously, the child poverty rate in BC was the worst of any
province in Canada for eight consecutive years.

The number of poor children was down from 98,000 in 2009 to 87,000 in 2010.
Meanwhile, the poverty rate for persons of all ages in BC fell slightly from
12.0 percent in 2009 to 11.5 percent in 2010. It was the worst poverty rate
in Canada for 12 consecutive years. The number of poor persons dropped from
523,000 to 510,000. The latest statistics show  once again 
the need for a comprehensive anti-poverty program in British Columbia, supported
by every political party, said Adrienne Montani, provincial coordinator
of First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition. Poverty is costing
children their health and limiting their ability to reach their full potential.

The current BC government has proposed modest
local anti-poverty initiatives in seven BC communities, but has made it clear
it will not make significant investments to fight poverty prior to the 2013
provincial election. (...)

British
Columbia Child Poverty Report Card(PDF
- 2.4MB, 28 pages)
November 2011
Campaign 2000 calls on all provinces and the federal government to commit
themselves to a 50 percent reduction in poverty among all Canadians by 2020.
BC supporters of Campaign 2000 hope to see a provincial child poverty rate
before taxes of seven percent or less by 2020. We are also calling for the
appointment of a BC cabinet minister with the authority and responsibility
to ensure that a poverty reduction plan is developed and implemented and that
the province is on track for achieving its poverty reduction targets and meeting
its timelines. (p. 23)
Source:First Call: BC Child and
Youth Advocacy Coalition
First Call is a cross-sectoral, non-partisan coalition of provincial and regional
organizations, engaged communities and individuals whose aim is to raise public
awareness and mobilize communities around the importance of public policy
and social investments that support the well-being of children, youth and
families.

Related link
from Campaign 2000:

Revisiting
Family Security in Insecure Times:
2011 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada(PDF - 2.8MB, 16 pages)
[The national report]
November 2011
All we are asking is to give children a chance. Campaign 2000 is looking for
a real commitment from this Parliament to reduce poverty by at least 50% by
the year 2020, creating a pathway to eventual eradication. The federal government,
in our view, must play a lead role. Source:Campaign 2000
Campaign 2000 is a non-partisan, cross-Canada coalition of over 120 national,
provincial and community organizations, committed to working together to end
child and family poverty in Canada.

NOTE: If you wish to see 2011 child and
family poverty reports for all participating Canadian provinces on one page
(+ links to last year's reports), go
to the Children, Families and Youth Links (NGO) page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chnngo.htm

---

BC
Campaign 2000 : 2010 Child Poverty Report Card (PDF - 2.4MB, 22
pages)
November 24, 2010BC Campaign 2000 Recommendations:
Campaign 2000 calls on all provinces and the federal government to commit
themselves to a 50 percent reduction in poverty among all canadians by 2020.
bc supporters of campaign 2000 hope to see a provincial child poverty rate
before taxes of seven percent or less by 2020. We are also calling for the
appointment of a bc cabinet minister with the authority and responsibility
to ensure that a poverty reduction plan is developed and implemented and that
the province is on track for achieving its poverty reduction targets and meeting
its timelines.

A
Time for Leadership in Fighting Child Poverty (PDF - 2 pages)
Media Release
November 24, 2010
Children need the political leaders of British Columbia to step forward and
commit themselves to fighting poverty, BC Campaign 2000 said today in its
latest annual report on child poverty. (...) The child poverty rate in British
Columbia dropped to 14.5 percent in 2008, according to the latest figures
published by Statistics Canada. The number of poor children was 121,000 -
or about one of every seven BC children. Alarmingly, the poverty rate for
children under age six was 19.6%, or one in five young children.

---

Related links:

Putting a face
on poverty
By Mark Hume
November 24, 2010
VANCOUVER
(...) The [child poverty] report, with a focus on the provincial situation,
was released by First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition. Relying
on 2008 Statistics Canada data, the most recently available, it shows one
in ten children nationally live in poverty; in B.C. it is one in seven. The
rates are the lowest in a decade, but a spike is expected when the 2009 data
is released next spring because of the economic crisis that began in the fall
of 2008.
[ 178 comments ]
Source:Globe and Mail

NOTE:
This is one of a series of provincial reports all released under the
Campaign 2000 banner on
November 24 (2010), the anniversary of the 1989 unanimous House of
Commons resolution to end child poverty by the year 2000. For links
to the complete collection of federal and provincial reports and (selected)
related media coverage, go to the Children, Families and Youth Links
(NGO) page:
http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/chnngo.htm

Twenty
Years Later - A Second Look (PDF - 15K,
2 pages)
January 11, 2010
This is the first in a series of monthly reports by First Call: BC Child and
Youth Advocacy Coalition on child poverty in British Columbia. The series
is a continuing call to the BC government to start getting serious about fighting
child and family poverty. The provincial government has spent the last several
years trying to explain away the poverty statistics.
The latest shots came on November 24 on the government web site:
[ http://www.gov.bc.ca/fortherecord/childpoverty/cp_poverty.html
]
None of the figures were incorrect, but they gave the misleading impression
that BC is a leader in fighting poverty.
The technique is what statisticians call cherry picking, using
selected figures that seem to reinforce the argument youre trying to
make...
Source:First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy
Coalition
First Call is a cross-sectoral, non-partisan coalition of provincial and regional
organizations, engaged communities and individuals whose aim is to raise public
awareness and mobilize communities around the importance of public policy
and social investments that support the well-being of children, youth and
families. First Call grew out of the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child. When Canada ratified that Convention in 1991, its advocates gathered
in a National Conference and agreed that it is time to give children a first
call on our resources and on our advocacy efforts. The BC representatives
were drawn from a variety of sectors: education, health, justice, social services,
and others.

Campaign 2000
Campaign 2000 is a cross-Canada public education movement to build Canadian
awareness and support for the 1989 all-party House of Commons resolution to
end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000. Campaign 2000 began in 1991
out of concern about the lack of government progress in addressing child poverty.
Campaign 2000 is non-partisan in urging all Canadian elected officials to
keep their promise to Canada's children.

BC Poverty Reduction
We are a coalition that includes community and non-profit groups, faith groups,
health organizations, First Nations and Aboriginal organizations, businesses,
labour organizations, and social policy groups. We have come together around
a campaign aimed at seeing the introduction of a bold and comprehensive poverty
reduction plan from the government of British Columbia that would include
legislated targets and timelines to significantly reduce poverty and homelessness.

British
Columbia Report Card on Child and Family Poverty (PDF - 886K, 23 pages)
November 2009The BC Child Poverty Report Card includes nine fact sheets
that analyze various aspects of child poverty in BC.:1. BC Had the Worst Record
 Six Years in a Row2. Child Poverty Over the Years3. Child Poverty
by Family Type 4. Persistence of Poverty 5. Child Poverty and Working
Parents 6. Families with Children on Welfare 7. I ncomes of Families with
Children8. Child Poverty and the Importance of Government Help9. What
Needs to HappenMelanies Story  The Human Face of Child PovertyAppendix
: Measures of PovertySource:First
Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition

Child
poverty: setting new goalsNovember 24, 2004
CAROL GOAR
"Giving up is not an option. But clinging to a faded dream is
not a solution.
So today, on the 15th anniversary of his parliamentary resolution
to end child poverty by 2000, Ed Broadbent will set a new goal. He
will challenge Canadians to reduce the child poverty rate to 5 per
cent within 10 years. His new target lacks the tidy finality of the
one he persuaded all MPs to endorse on Nov. 24, 1989, shortly before
his retirement as leader of the New Democratic Party. It is less ambitious,
less appealing.But Broadbent, who returned to active politics this
year, believes it is realistic and achievable. He calls it 'a new
agenda for a new time.'
The child poverty rate currently stands at 15 per cent. It was 15.2
per cent when Broadbent issued his clarion call 15 years ago."
Source:The Toronto Star

Food
Banks Canada
Food Banks Canada is the national charitable organization representing and
supporting the food banking community across Canada. Our membership and their
respective agencies serve approximately 85% of people accessing essential
food programs nationwide.

Selected site content:

Hunger
Count 2011(PDF - 4.2MB, 36 pages)
A comprehensive report on hunger and food bank use in Canada, and recommendations
for change

Chart
: Food bank use in Canada (March 2011)
Food Banks Canada has released data detailing how many Canadians used food
banks across the country in March 2011. Hover over the chart to read how many
people used food banks in each province that month, and what percentage of
those people were children.

Source:Food Banks Canada
Food Banks Canada is the national charitable organization representing and
supporting the food bank community across Canada. Our Members and their respective
agencies serve approximately 85% of people accessing food banks and food programs
nationwide. Our mission is to help food banks meet the short-term need for
food, and to find long-term solutions to hunger.

---

Media coverage:

Food
bank use stays high
November 1, 2011
Food bank use across Canada remained more than 25 per cent above pre-recession
levels in March, the group representing food banks said Tuesday. Food Banks
Canada said an annual survey of its members showed a slight decrease in the
number of food recipients from the same month a year earlier  two per
cent to 851,014  but little change over all. The steady numbers show
the effects of recession are still being felt across Canada, and the organization
says that means economic recovery isn't working for everyone.
Source:CBC News

---

Stretched
food banks a measure of Canadas frail recovery
By Tavia Grant
November 1, 2011
The number of Canadians using food banks has declined slightly, but persistent
demand indicates many are struggling in a frail economic recovery. More than
851,000 individuals visited a food bank in March alone, a number thats
little changed from last years record and still 26 per cent above prerecession
levels, Food Banks Canadas annual survey, to be released Tuesday, shows.

Fraser Institute - "Competitive
Market Solutions for Public Policy Problems"The
Fraser Institute was founded in 1974 to redirect public attention to the role
markets can play in providing for the economic and social well-being of Canadians.

BC
Welfare Reform Receives a B : Province Leaps to Forefront of Intelligent
Welfare Reform and Sets New Standard for Canadian Welfare The Fraser
Institute October 21, 2002 "BCs recently announced welfare
reforms have catapulted it beyond any Canadian jurisdiction and into the realm
of reform-minded US states such as Wisconsin, says a new report, Welfare Reform
in British Columbia: A Report Card, released today by the Fraser Institute."

Source:Fraser
Institute - "Competitive Market Solutions for Public Policy Problems"The Fraser Institute was founded in 1974 to redirect public
attention to the role markets can play in providing for the economic and social
well-being of Canadians.-----------------------------------Wow
- it's not often that the conservative Fraser Institute is on the same wavelength
as the British Columbia social advocacy community, but there ya go, folks.Here's
what authors Chris Schafer and Jason Clemens say about incentives to work: "The
government should move to immediately re-instate earnings exemptions as they existed
prior to the change. Furthermore, the government should consider enhancing the
opportunities to make work pay by extending earnings exemptions further.""Hear,
hear!" say the social advocates --- but then, the Fraser report also gives
the BC government high marks for being the first Canadian jurisdiction to set
a time limit to welfare eligibility regardless of personal circumstances or the
economic situation --- definitely not a popular feature with those who work with
and speak for the most disadvantaged in BC...-----------------------------------Re.
Wisconsin:Wisconsin
Studies (W-2) - The Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) of the University
of Wisconsin has a section of its Welfare
Reform website that includes links to over a dozen studies on the outcomes
and impacts of welfare reform in Wisconsin. Pick one or two, read them and decide
for yourself how successful Wisconsin's reforms have been...Source : Institute
for Research on Poverty (IRP)----------------------------------Caveat
:

"The welfare caseload composition of Canadian
provincial welfare rolls and US state welfare rolls varies on a number of different
levels. While female single- parent families comprise the bulk of US welfare caseloads,
in Canada that figure is approximately 29 percent (CCSD, 1998). In addition, Canadian
caseloads also consist of disabled persons, whereas in the US disabled persons
fall under alternative support programs not categorized as welfare.
- Footnote #4, page 25 [Fraser Institute report]

There are indeed a number of differences between the current Canadian and American
social safety nets - certainly enough that the Fraser Institute should have considered
posting the disclaimer/caveat just a bit more prominently. For example...-
poor single people and childless couples in the U.S. can't even apply for Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and states decide individually whether or
not to grant residual welfare to applicants without dependants - 35 percent
of the total U.S. caseload is "child-only cases", i.e., kids outside
the parental home (in Canada, the vast majority of these kids are covered by child
protection) - Canadian welfare is broader than TANF
plus the Food Stamp Program plus Medicaid...- and so
on.

Canadian
equivalent to the 4th annual TANF report to Congress :None. There is no
requirement within the framework of the Canada Health and Social Transfer for
a report by government to Parliament on the administration of the welfare portion
of the CHST (or any other portion, for that matter) by provincial and territorial
governments. Pity...

B.C.
Liberals shake up human-rights tribunal
The chair, Heather MacNaughton, will lose her post, causing some to worry
about more changes to come
July 15, 2010
By Charlie Smith
The B.C. government has declined to reappoint the chair of the B.C. Human
Rights Tribunal, Heather MacNaughton, as well as another tribunal member,
Judith Parrack. This has some human-rights experts concerned about what this
means for the future of the nine-member quasi-judicial body, which issues
legally binding decisions.
Source:The Georgia Strait

Mothers
under siegeBy Charlie SmithJune 7,
2007"Some say the B.C. government has violated the human rights of single
moms with its punitive social policies. (...) thousands of single parents across
the province struggle with trying to earn a decent income, finding daycare, and
ensuring their kids get a good start in life. But new data from Statistics Canada
show that whereas the incomes of Vancouver single fathers have increased in recent
years, the incomes of single mothers are in decline. This has some womens
rights and antipoverty activists claiming that B.C. Liberal government policies
discriminate against single mothers, who are among the poorest citizens of the
province. In a curious twist, the premier and the attorney general were both raised
by single mothers.

It's
a bad time to be poorBy Carlito PabloMay
31, 2007 On May 7, the Impact of the Olympics on Community Coalition released
a report urging the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic
Winter Games (VANOC) and its partnersthe City of Vancouver and the British
Columbia provincial governmentto live up to their so-called Inner-City Inclusivity
commitments. These include commitments to housing, environment, civil liberties,
and transparency.

Critics
slam welfare bumpBy Carlito PabloMarch 1, 2007Finance
Minister Carole Tay­lor claims that the new budget ensures that all British
Columbians share in the benefits of the province's thriving economy. Not by any
stretch, counters the director of UBC's school of social work and family studies.
Prof. Graham Riches told the Georgia Straight that there is something fundamentally
flawed in the way the B.C. Liberal government carved the budget. It's not
a policy of redistribution, he said. It will prove inadequate.
Riches noted that the rich and middle class received $1.5 billion in tax cuts
so that, according to the government, they'll have more money to meet their
housing challenges and help them with the high cost of housing in B.C..
This amount constitutes three-quarters of the four-year $2 billion package, which
the Liberals trumpeted as a housing legacy.

Thousands
of disabled denied legislated benefit, anti-poverty activists charge
By Brennan Clarke
July 5, 2011
Thousands of B.C. disability-assistance recipients are being denied the right
to an extra $100 a month for volunteering in the community even though provincial
legislation guarantees the benefit to all eligible applicants, a Victoria-based
anti-poverty agency says. Under the B.C. Employment
and Assistance Act, welfare recipients who qualify as persons with disabilities
are entitled to the extra $100 if they perform a minimum of 10 hours of volunteer
work a month. Kelly Newhook, executive director of
Together Against Poverty Society, said 5,000 people receive the $100 top-up
on their benefits, but another 7,000 have applied and are on a waiting list
because the province refuses to provide the funds to make the payments. Some
applicants have been on the list for two years or more.

Provincial
welfare program under strainNumber of two-parent families
collecting assistance up 77 per cent compared to April of last yearBy
Justine HunterJune 2, 2009Just days after B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell
launched a national campaign to broaden Canada's employment insurance scheme,
new statistics show his provincial welfare program is under growing strain. And
families are bearing the brunt of the recession in B.C., the new provincial statistics
on income assistance show.

B.C.
Premier demands single EI standardBy Patrick BrethourMay
30, 2009The federal government needs to overhaul a clearly discriminatory
employment insurance system to help the swelling ranks of the jobless in Western
Canada, says British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell. The Premier is adding his
voice to the chorus pressing the federal government to rewrite the rulebook for
employment insurance, and to create a single national standard for how long Canadians
need to work before becoming eligible for payments. Canadians are Canadians,
and they should be treated equally, he told The Globe and Mail. Right now,
there are dramatic discrepancies in the EI system, with those in areas of historically
low unemployment having to work more than twice as long to qualify for payments
as those in regions with the highest levels of joblessness. That means it's much
more likely for laid-off workers in such low-unemployment areas to fall short
of qualifying for EI, even though a similar worker in a more disadvantaged area
would receive payments.

Ottawa
and the provinces must extend a helping hand to workersWe
need to eliminate regional discrepancies and co-operate to extend EI benefitsBy
Gordon Campbell (Premier of British Columbia)May 29. 2009With all of the
discussion these days about employment insurance reforms, it is timely to consider
affordable improvements that will assist families and unemployed individuals who
are struggling to get through this global recession. First, we need to eliminate
the regional discrepancies in eligibility rules that are particularly unfair to
Western Canadians. (...) Second, we need to find an affordable way of extending
EI benefits to help workers who have either recently exhausted their benefits
or who are about to lose their EI income. This could be achieved through a new
cost-sharing partnership between the federal and provincial governments that would
redirect some provincial income assistance funding to help the federal government
fund extended EI benefits. (...) Provincial governments can be part of the solution
by offering to partner with the federal government in extending individuals' maximum
EI benefits. Instead of making income assistance payments to those people, they
could offer to transfer that funding to the federal government to help fund the
cost of extended EI benefits. (...) The federal government and provinces should
work in partnership to do the best we can for all of Canada's workers, regardless
of where they live or are employed. They pay equivalent national taxes and all
should receive equivalent national benefits. We must unite in providing Canadians
more effective support as we move through these trying times.

Homelessness
Research Virtual Library (University of British Columbia)"The
homelessness research virtual library was created in response to a call from stakeholders
for easier access to homelessness research information. The Virtual Library website
provides immediate access to past and current homelessness research from the province
of British Columbia and the Yukon. The project is a partnership between the University
of British Columbia, Human Resources Development Canada and Shelter Net BC."-
this site offers links to 80+ abstracts and full reports, mostly dealing
with the BC situation, that you can search by : Author - Organization - Title
- Location of Research - Publication Year - Subjects (Population) - Subjects (Keywords)
- Subjects (Research Type) - List
All Documents. Source / Related Links:University
of British ColumbiaShelter Net BC

Young
parents squeezed for time and money, report finds
A University of British Columbia study found that it's much more expensive
to raise a family than it was a generation ago.October 18, 2011
By Andrea Gordon
Canadian parents are raising children with far less money and time than their
baby boomer predecessors, despite the doubling of the Canadian economy since
1976, says a report from the University of British Columbia. At the same time,
Canadians approaching retirement are wealthier than ever before, setting up
an intergenerational tension that threatens young families, according to the
study, released Tuesday.
Source:Toronto Star

The report from the Human Early Learning
Partnership (HELP)
at the University of British Columbia:

Source:Human Early Learning Partnership
The Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) is a collaborative, interdisciplinary
research network, based at the University of British Columbia. HELPs
unique partnership brings together many scientific viewpoints to address complex
early child development (ECD) issues. HELP connects researchers and practitioners
from communities and institutions across B.C., Canada, and internationally.
[ University of British Columbia ]

The
Information PartnershipThe Information Partnership
provides innovative and practical solutions for private-, public-, and voluntary-sector
organizations wanting to become more efficient and effective in the way they develop,
deliver and evaluate their operations.

Information Services VancouverInformation Services Vancouver (ISV) is British Columbia's
largest provider of information and referral (I&R) services - a citizens'
link to thousands of community, social, and government agencies across the province.

Red
Book : Directory of Services for the Lower Mainland
This is the most comprehensive online guide to community, social, and government
services available across the Lower Mainland. It is considered by many professionals
working in the human services field to be the "Bible" of community resources.
This is a detailed A-to-Z listing of over 4,000 community,social, and government
agencies and programs, including e-mail and Web site addresses.
HINT: Click The
Red Book Online (in the left margin of the page) to access the list via
a search page.

JobWaveBC"JobWaveBC is brought to you by WCG
International Consultants Ltd. - people who know BCs job scene and
what it takes to get those quality jobs fast. Our successful jobs programs
have now assisted over 11,000 British Columbians to find great jobs. (...)
Based in Victoria, British Columbia. WCG International Consultants Ltd. delivers
community and provincial employment programs, as well as progressive, internet-based
solutions to employment and hiring, and proprietary technology business solutions."- incl. links to information for job seekers and
employers

B.C. looks to send welfare recipients
north for job traininghttp://goo.gl/dVp6A
March 13, 2012
By Cam Fortems
The B.C. Liberal government is developing a program to move employable people
on welfare to northern B.C., where they will be trained and housed. B.C. Finance
Minister Kevin Falcon mentioned the program under development Tuesday during
a budget-style speech to the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce. While details are
not yet available, Falcon said in an interview with reporters that government
is developing a welfare-to-work program. "We're working across government
to put together a package to find a way to fly them up to where work is, provide
accommodation and training, if necessary, and put them into high-paying jobs."

Back to the Future...(?)

From The Canadian Encyclopedia:

Unemployment Relief Camps
In October 1932, at the end of the third year of the Great Depression, and
on the recommendation of Maj-Gen A.G.L. MCNAUGHTON, chief of the general staff,
PM BENNETT sanctioned the creation of a nationwide system of camps to house
and provide work for single, unemployed, homeless Canadian males. The camps
were placed under the Department of NATIONAL DEFENCE in consultation with
the Department of Labour, and staffed with civilians. Occupants voluntarily
entered the camps through the Employment Service of Canada and were free to
leave at any time. In return for bunkhouse residence, 3 meals a day, work
clothes, medical care and 20 cents a day, the "Royal Twenty Centers"
worked 44-hr weeks clearing bush, building roads, planting trees and constructing
public buildings. Critics argued that the federal government had established
the camps in lieu of a reasonable program of work and wages*. The most
dramatic demonstration of this resentment occurred in Apr 1935, when 1500
men from BC camps went on strike and after 2 months' agitation in Vancouver
set forth on the abortive ON TO OTTAWA TREK. By the time the camps were closed
in June 1936, they had been home for 170,248 men who had been provided 10
201 103 man-days of relief.
---
* Bolding added to highlight the Back to the Future creepiness factor...
---

Law Courts
Education Society of BC
The Law Courts Education Society is a non-profit organization providing educational
programs and services about the justice system in Canada and British Columbia.
Materials are designed to help the public understand how the justice system
works and to help those people working within the system to better understand
the justice-related issues that different people in the communities face.

This site contains:
- information about legal aid in BC,
- information about the Legal Services Society (LSS) and its services, including
LawLINE (toll-free hotline for people in BC that provides information, referrals
and legal advice)

Other websites maintained by the Legal Services Society:

Family Law
in British Columbia
"This site contains:
- self-help materials to help you with your legal problem
- links to people and places where you can get more legal help or information
- general information about family law."

ELAN
- Electronic Legal Aid Newsletter
Elan is an electronic newsletter of the Legal Services Society e-mailed
once a month to community stakeholders who choose to receive this service.
The first issue, dated July 2005, includes the following content:
- Family Duty Counsel Services Now in Supreme Courts
- LSS Launches Multilingual Call Centre/LawLINE Scripts
- Outreach Services for Your Organization - Hot
off the Press from LSS - Bookmark These Sites

---

Selected LSS site content:

Your Welfare Rights : A Guide to
BC Employment and Income Assistance (PDF - 3.4MB, 180 pages)
Twenty-Second edition, 2012 http://resources.lss.bc.ca/pdfs/pubs/Your-Welfare-Rights-eng.pdf
Explains who is eligible for welfare, how to apply for welfare, what benefits
are available, your responsibilities while on welfare, how to appeal a decision
about your benefits, and how to get more information or help.

Public
commission on legal aid formed in B.C.
By Gary OakesJuly 9, 2010Six of the major players on the British Columbia
law stage have formed an organization they hope will find solutions to the
continuing crisis in legal aid throughout the province. Access
to justice is one of the cornerstones of our society, Stephen McPhee
told The Lawyers Weekly. It is as essential a service as health care
and education." (...) Hes vice-president
of the B.C. branch of the Canadian Bar Association (CBABC) and chair of
the steering committee that is overseeing the newly-minted Public Commission
on Legal Aid (PCLA). It will hold meetings around
the province this fall to hear from ordinary people and stakeholders on
whats wrong with the system and then produce problem-solving recommendations
to the provincial government. The commission is jointly
funded by CBABC, the Law Society of B.C., the Law Foundation of B.C., the
B.C. Crown Counsel Association (BCCCA), the Vancouver Bar Association and
the Victoria Bar Association.
Source:The Lawyers Weekly
"Serving Canada's Legal Community Since 1983"

Legal
Aid Changes Planned for 2010 (PDF - 285K,
3 pages)
Media Release
November 3, 2009
VANCOUVER  The Legal Services Society, which oversees legal aid throughout
the province, will be changing its operations in five communities next year.
Effective April 1, 2010, the Society will replace its regional centres in
Kamloops, Prince George, Kelowna, Surrey and Victoria with local agents and
an expanded, province-wide call centre.

Service
and operational changes (PDF - 371K, 5 pages)
Feb. 25, 2009
The Legal Services Society (LSS or the society) will be changing some services
and some of its operations this year. These changes are necessary because
the societys current government and non-government revenues are insufficient
to cover the current demand for legal aid.
Source:BC Legal Services Society

Livable
Income For EveryoneLivable Income For Everyone (LIFE) is an organization
started in British Columbia in 2003 to promote the implementation of universal
guaranteed livable income in every country in the world.- incl. links to:
What - Why - How - News - Articles - Gallery - Tools - Letters - Links

On
Basic Income: Interview with Götz WernerGerman Millionaire
is super advocate for basic incomePosted in die tageszeitung / translated
12/09Götz Werner, founder of major drugstore chain (1700 stores), is
one of the most influential advocates of basic income in Germany. Werner is not
only a super advocate for guaranteed income, he is also one of the top 500 richest
people in Germany.

Why
the United States should implement Basic IncomeBy Sam AlexanderOctober
2009Welfare, food stamps, and homeless shelters (...) explicitly stratify
society into classes, enforcing the obsolete notion that the man who doesn't do
labor is a less valuable member of society. This is why Basic Income should be
absolutely universal- even Warren Buffett and Bill Gates must be given automatic
"welfare", for only then can the dole rise above its condescending,
humiliating nature.

Economic
Foundations and Environmental ProgressBy Alexander BishopNovember
2009(...) The more efficient
and technologically advanced the culture, the fewer people they need working.
The economy rewards technological stagnation in labour-saving
devices and designed obsolescence. The economy suffers
when we are healthier, greener, and consume less. The solution
is a movement away from job dependant monetary circulation to a guaranteed livable
income. This will allow positive change to occur without
causing job losses leaving people unable to meet their basic needs.

At Home/Chez Soi
[ Version
française du site ]
The At Home/Chez Soi research demonstration project is investigating mental
health and homelessness in five Canadian cities: Moncton, Montreal, Toronto,
Winnipeg and Vancouver. A total of 2285 homeless people living with a mental
illness will participate. 1,325 people from that group will be given a place
to live, and will be offered services to assist them over the course of the
initiative. The remaining participants will receive the regular services that
are currently available in their cities.

As of February, 2011 - over 1,600 people have
become project participants, and over 700 now have homes. The overall goal
is to provide evidence about what services and systems could best help people
who are living with a mental illness and are homeless. At the same time, the
project will provide meaningful and practical support for hundreds of vulnerable
people.

Metro
VancouverMetro Vancouver comprises four separate
corporate entities operating under one name;it includes 22 member municipalities
and one electoral area.

Homelessness
During the 1990's homelessness emerged as a major issue in communities across
Canada. In Metro Vancouver, homelessness continues to be a complex and growing
problem. The 2005 Homeless Count for Greater Vancouver showed that homelessness
in the region doubled between 2002 and 2005. The Greater Vancouver Regional
Steering Committee on Homelessness (RSCH) formed and now includes over 40
members representing service providers, community-based organizations, business
and all levels of government. The RSCH developed and oversees the implementation
of the Regional Homelessness Plan for Greater Vancouver.

2011 Homeless Count Report Finds Some
Progress
but Increase in Family, Women and Youth Homelessness (dead
links)February 29, 2012
Today, The Greater Vancouver Regional Steering Committee (RSCH) on Homelessness
released One Step Forward Results of 2011 Metro
Vancouver Homeless Count. This final Homeless Count report indicates
that the total homeless population in Metro Vancouver was virtually unchanged
at 2,650 in 2011 compared to 2,660 people counted in 2008. Those who reported
being unsheltered decreased dramatically by 52%. (...) The Homeless Count
also revealed that within the homeless population there was a sharp rise in
the number of families with children, women and unaccompanied youth. Aboriginal
people comprise about 2% of the general population of Metro Vancouver but
they remain overrepresented at 27% of homeless people enumerated that day.

Complete report:

One Step Forward
Results of 2011 Metro Vancouver Homeless Count
(PDF - 1.8MB, 79 pages)http://goo.gl/volviThe 2011 Metro Vancouver Homeless Count was commissioned by the Greater
Vancouver Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness (RSCH) to update the
number of homeless people in the region, the demographic profile of those
surveyed or enumerated on Count Day, and trends on the nature and character
of homelessness with reference to the three previous Counts in 2002, 2005
and 2008. (Source : Executive Summary - p.8)

Source:
Greater Vancouver Regional
Steering Committee on Homelessness:http://stophomelessness.ca/
The Greater Vancouver Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness (RSCH) is
a coalition of community organizations and all levels of government.
Our Vision is to eliminate homelessness in Greater Vancouver through the full
implementation of the Regional Homelessness Plan: Three Ways to Home.
you'll find a link to that plan on the "Homelessness in Vancouver"
page [ http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/housing/homelessness.htm
] on the Vancouver (city) website, along with links to over a dozen related
reports.

From the
National Council of Welfare (NCW):

---*NOTE
: The National Council of Welfare closed its doors and shut down its
website at the end of September 2012.
For more information, see http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/ncw.htm
The links to the three reports below are functional because the files
are copied to my web server.
---

Over the years, the Council has produced many
reports on poverty and welfare, but there are three that stand out
in my mind as milestone reports on the history of welfare in Canada,
at least since the 1980s.

1. 1987Welfare in Canada: The Tangled
Safety Net (PDF - 2.7MB, 131 pages)
November 1987Tangled Safety Net examines the following issues in Canadian
social assistance network of programs:
* Complex rules * Needs-testing * Rates of assistance * Enforcement
* Appeals * Recommendations
This report is the first comprehensive national analysis of social
assistance programs operated by the provincial, territorial and municipal
governments. These programs function as the safety net for Canadians
and are better known by their everyday name welfare.

2. 1992Welfare Reform (PDF
- 2.8MB, 61 pages)
Summer 1992
This report is an update of the 1987 Tangled Safety Net, but
it presents information by jurisdiction rather than by issue - covers
all provinces and territories.

3. 1997Another Look
at Welfare Reform (PDF - 6.75MB, 134 pages)
Autumn 1997
- an in-depth analysis of changes in Canadian welfare programs in
the 1990s. The report focuses on the provincial and territorial reforms
that preceded the repeal of the Canada Assistance Plan and those that
followed the implementation of the Canada Health and Social Transfer
in April 1996.
[Proactive disclosure : I did the research for, and wrote the provincial-territorial
section of, this report while I was on a one-year secondment to the
Council. Gilles ]

Source:
National Council of Welfare
Established in 1969, the Council is an advisory group to the Minister
of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (originally the Minister
of Health and Welfare Canada). The mandate of the Council is to advise
the Minister regarding any matter relating to social development that
the Minister may refer to the Council for its consideration or that
the Council considers appropriate.

Red
Tent 2010 - Housing is a RightRed Tent is national campaign that invites the participation of all
persons and organizations wishing to end homelessness in Canada. Our goal
is to persuade the federal government to enact a funded National Housing
Strategy that will end homelessness and ensure secure, adequate, accessible
and affordable housing for all persons living in Canada.

2010 Olympics
Oppressometer
The 2010 Oppressometer is an online tool developed to monitor
civil liberties during the Olympic period. The site is a tongue-in-cheek take
on the US Homeland Security threat levels, documenting civil liberty concerns
in the months leading up to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. The Oppressometer
is a project of COPE, the Coalition of Progressive Electors. For forty years,
COPE has been a democratic, community-based coalition of individuals and organizations.
Source:Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE)

Pivot Legal Society
Pivot Legal Society is a non-profit legal advocacy organization located
in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Pivot's mandate is to use the law to
address the root causes of poverty and social exclusion. Our name is metaphor
for our approach to social change - by making the most tangible violations
of human rights the focal point of our efforts, we exert maximum pressure
in order to shift society toward greater equality and inclusivity.

Planned Lifetime Advocacy
Network (PLAN) - British Columbia
Planned Lifetime
Advocacy Network (PLAN) is a non-profit organization, established in 1989 by and
for families committed to future planning and securing a good life for their relative
with a disability. (...) Our goal is twofold: to ensure a safe and secure future
for your relative with a disability and, in the process, to provide you and your
loved ones with peace of mind. In pursuit of this goal we're inspired by a simple
but powerful vision: the vision of a good life for all people with disabilities
and their families.- incl. links to: * About PLAN * Plan for a Good Life
* Get Involved * Resources * Public Policy * Photos & Stories

PLAN
Affiliates- contact and (where available) website URL for organizations in BC,
Alberta, Sakatchewan, Ontario and Quebec as well as Redmon (Washington),
Boulder (Colorado) and Phoenix (Arizona) that are affiliated
with PLAN.

---

Registered Disability Savings
Plan (RDSP*)
The Registered Disability Savings Plan is a savings plan designed specifically
for people with disabilities in Canada. The first of its kind in the world,
this new tax-deferred savings vehicle will assist families in planning for
the long - term financial security of their relatives with disabilities.
- incl. links to * What is it? * How do I qualify * Where do I get it?
[ Registered Disability Savings Plan
Blog- "...everything you wanted to know about the RDSP"
]* (PLAN is the non-profit organization that proposed, researched, and
campaigned for the RDSP.
PLAN created and maintains the RDSP website and the RDSP Blog.

---

New
Ingredients for the Fiscal PieDecember 2003By Sherri Torjman"...argues
the need for exploring possible methods of expanding the fiscal pie.
It explores one possible model put forward by PLAN (Planned Lifetime Advocacy
Network), a group of parents of children with severe disabilities. The group proposes
a combination of private savings and public spending to help develop caring communities.
(...) The proposal represents one idea in a range of possible savings and investment
mechanisms to expand the fiscal pie  a direction which we should be debating
seriously as a nation."Complete
report (PDF file - 19K, 3 pages)Source:Caledon
Institute of Social Policy

Poverty
and Human Rights Centre (Canada, International, United Nations,
etc.)Centre Directors: Gwen Brodsky, Shelagh Day
(formerly the Poverty and Human Rights Project)
"The Poverty and Human Rights Centre is committed to eradicating poverty
and promoting social and economic equality through human rights.The Library is a searchable
database of materials related to social and economic rights. It includes
texts of relevant international human rights treaties, Canadian and other
laws, court decisions, legal briefs, and articles.
To use the library, go to buttons at the top of the page (topics, documents,
resources).Factum Library What's new
The Factum Library section contains factums, pleadings and other litigation
documents from selected Canadian human rights cases. The materials are organized
by case name, articles, and date."
- incl. links to : Recently added links - Contact
Us - About the Centre - Centre Publications

Human
Rights Denied (PDF file - 93K, 2 pages)B.C.
Government DiscriminatesAgainst Poor Single Mothers  reportPress
ReleaseApril 28, 2005"Vancouver - Four constitutional and human rights
experts are issuing a report today that condemns the Government of British Columbia
for its treatment of single mothers on social assistance. Shelagh Day, Margot
Young, Melina Buckley and Gwen Brodsky conclude in Human Rights Denied
that single mothers are discriminated against by the B.C. Government."

PovNetPovNet is an online resource for advocates, people on welfare, and community
groups and individuals involved in anti-poverty work. It provides up-to-date information
about resources in British Columbia and Canada. PovNet links to current anti-poverty
issues and also provides links to other anti-poverty organizations and resources
in Canada and internationally. PovNet is a clearinghouse of information necessary
to address issues of anti-poverty. Regulations and laws can change so quickly
it is difficult to know if the information you are using is up-to-date. PovNet
strives to keep advocates and those who may be experiencing difficulty with the
social service system informed.
[ Source : About PovNet ]

Online
resources - Links to government websites, policies, acts, regulations
& many other useful websites organized by issue (same as above) and by
location (links to provincial/territorial resources, U.S. and other international
links)

Homelessness in Canada:
Interview with Penny Goldsmith of PovNetJune 2010Transcript
of the interview (HTML)Video
Penny Goldsmith is the Executive Coordinator of PovNET in Vancouver, BC. PovNet
provides online tools that facilitate communication, community and access
to information around poverty-related issues in British Columbia and Canada.
They work to collect relevant news and resources of use to advocates, community
workers, marginalized communities and the general public.
Source:The Homeless Hub
Building on the success of the Canadian Conference on Homelessness (2005),
the Homeless Hub was created to address the need for a single place to find
homelessness information from across Canada. Launched in 2007, the Homeless
Hub is a web-based research library and information center representing an
innovative step forward in the use of technology to enhance knowledge mobilization
and networking.

Related links:

PovNet
PovNet provides online tools that facilitate communication, community and
access to information around poverty-related issues in British Columbia and
Canada. We work to collect relevant news and resources of use to advocates,
community workers, marginalized communities and the general public.

---

Poverty
and protest: the media focus on the Vancouver OlympicsFebruary 9, 2010
As media from around the country and around the world focus on Vancouver and
the Winter Olympics, they are publishing stories about poverty, homelessness
and protest. PovNet has prepared a collection of links to some of the stories
published over the last few days.[Click the link above to access all of the articles
below.]
* Winter Olympics on slippery slope after Vancouver crackdown on homeless
| The Guardian
* In the Shadow of the Olympics | The New York Times
* Give A Home to Us Not The Olympics, Say Protesters | The New York Times
* Vancouver's 'Poverty Olympics' Protest Millions Spent On Winter Games |
The Huffington Post
* Vancouver's poor protest against Olympic largesse | ABC News
* Estimates of Olympic protests increase as Vancouver Games approach | CP
* Activists stage 'Poverty Olympics' in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside | The
Vancouver Sun
* Stop civil obedience: Fight the Games | The Vancouver Sun
* The Vancouver Olympic Blues | Dave Zirin
* Protesters target Olympic torch run | CBC
* End poverty. It's not a game: The Poverty Olympics | Rabble
* When Snow Melts: Vancouvers Olympic Crackdown | The Nation
* Vancouver Olympic blues | RussianToday (video)
* Vancouver Tries To Polish 'Skid Road' For Olympics | NPR (radio

Access to Justice
- campaign to restore funding to legal aid in BC and to stop the cutbacks
to the Legal Services Society
- incl. links to press releases, news, petitions and more

---

Research
Report - Ministry of Human Resources Exit Survey Results*
(PDF file - 48K, 7 pages)Ministry of Human ResourcesOctober
11, 2002* January 9/09 Update- The
link to this report is dead, but I'm leaving it in because of the relevant content.
Try copying the title into a Google.ca search
box******************************************- this is the first in
a series of quarterly reports on the activities and experiences of people who
have left income assistance.- "[t]he information comes from interviews
of 1,833 individuals who received income assistance in September 2001, and who
did not return to income assistance (IA) before the sampling date in April 2002.
The survey found that almost 97% of the cases left IA to either work, attend school,
for other income, or because of a change in family or financial status. More than
50% left income assistance for work, while 35% left to attend school or training."Survey
Questions (PDF file - 65K, 16 pages)

Editorial
Comment: The number of completed surveys (1,833) represents just under 33%
of the total "cohort" (the group of people who left IA after September
2001 and hadn't returned by April 2002), which was 5,578. The report says that
the main reason others (over 2,200 people) didn't participate was because their
contact numbers were found to be "Not In Service", showing "that
many people move when they leave income assistance." Studies of welfare reforms
since the mid-nineties in Alberta by the Canada West Foundation and by the municipal
governments of Ottawa and Toronto in Ontario have shown that when they leave social
assistance during welfare reforms, many people simply cannot afford a telephone...I
don't know exit surveys very much, but I'm not inclined to assume that the survey
results apply to the entire cohort, because the 66% who didn't reply would have
been those (in my humble opinion) who would be least likely to be in a
job, in school or in a training program. Lies, damn lies, and surveys...

Pro
Bono Net BC - "Linking Lawyers with communities
for the public good""Pro Bono Law of BC built this site to support
pro bono work by BC lawyers and to make legal services as accessible as possible.Pro
Bono Law of BC is a non-profit society formed in 2002 with funding from the Law
Foundation of BC to promote, coordinate and facilitate the delivery of pro bono
legal services in BC." ["Pro bono comes from the Latin term, pro
bono publico, for the good of the public. Our definition of pro bono: Free
legal services for persons of limited means or not-for-profit organizations"]Source:
Law Foundation of British Columbia"The
Law Foundation of B.C. is a non-profit foundation created by legislation to receive
and distribute the interest on clients' funds held in lawyers' pooled trust accounts
maintained in financial institutions."

Related
Link:Pro Bono Net - U.S."The
mission of Pro Bono Net is simple. First, use information technology to increase
the amount and quality of legal services provided to low-income individuals and
communities by the public interest/pro bono lawyers. Second, create a virtual
community of public interest lawyers that bridges private, legal services, and
academic sectors of the profession and that serves as a model for similar networks
in other legal communities."

Take
Two: BC Budget 2009 September Update
By Marc Lee
September 1, 2009
The September BC Budget is a new look at a budget most have come to see as
a fake. Februarys budget was not passed through the legislature due
to the May election, and up to E-Day the government maintained the fiction
that it had a small-ish deficit of just under half a billion dollars. Since
that time, the government has moved out of denial about the recession and
revealed that it could not in fact meet its deficit target, accompanied by
loud noises about expenditure cuts through the summer.
Source:Progressive Economics blogNOTE: for links to the September 2009 BC Budget
Update and analysis of those measures,
go to the 2009 Canadian Government Budgets Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/budgets.htm

Public Commission on Legal Aid

British Columbia coalition launches legal aid commission(dead link)
June 28, 2010
Concerns over cuts to legal aid services in B.C. have prompted a coalition
of justice groups to launch a public examination of the system. The Public
Commission on Legal Aid will visit 10 B.C. communities this fall to gather
input from British Columbians in order to make recommendations to the provincial
government. The commission is a joint project of several groups, including
the Law Society of B.C., the Vancouver Bar Association and the Canadian Bar
Association's B.C. branch.
Source:CBC British Columbia

Public
commission on legal aid formed in B.C.
By Gary OakesJuly 9, 2010Six of the major players on the British Columbia
law stage have formed an organization they hope will find solutions to the
continuing crisis in legal aid throughout the province. Access
to justice is one of the cornerstones of our society, Stephen McPhee
told The Lawyers Weekly. It is as essential a service as health care
and education." (...) Hes vice-president
of the B.C. branch of the Canadian Bar Association (CBABC) and chair of
the steering committee that is overseeing the newly-minted Public Commission
on Legal Aid (PCLA). It will hold meetings around
the province this fall to hear from ordinary people and stakeholders on
whats wrong with the system and then produce problem-solving recommendations
to the provincial government. The commission is jointly
funded by CBABC, the Law Society of B.C., the Law Foundation of B.C., the
B.C. Crown Counsel Association (BCCCA), the Vancouver Bar Association and
the Victoria Bar Association.
Source:The Lawyers Weekly
"Serving Canada's Legal Community Since 1983"

Raise the Rates
Raise the Rates is a coalition of community groups and organisations concerned
with the level of poverty and homelessness in British Columbia. In 2002, the
provincial government cut welfare rates and introduced arbitrary barriers
that keep people in need from getting help. Since then, homelessness has at
least doubled and BC has more people living below the poverty line than any
other province in Canada.

Selected site content:

From
Raise the Rates:

October 16, 2013Second Annual Welfare Food Challenge: Hungry for a Welfare Raisehttp://welfarefoodchallenge.org/
The Welfare Food Challenge will start on Wednesday, October 16, World Food
Day. We are inviting British Columbians to eat only what they can purchase
based on what welfare recipients receive for one week (October 16 to October
22). Welfare Food Challenge participants will be expected to live on only
the food they can purchase with $26 dollars.

"About a month ago
a coalition of some of BCs leading antipoverty, food, health and social
policy organizations invited the CBC to host a day of discussion around the
theme of a BC Right to Food Day to coincide with this years
World Food Day. Unfortunately the CBC declined this
invitation to be part of a public discussion."

Welfare Food Challenge websitehttp://welfarefoodchallenge.org/
This autumn we issued the Welfare Food Challenge, inviting people in British
Columbia to live on the amount of money a person on welfare has to purchase
food for a week  $26. The Dietitians of Canada in their report The
Cost of Eating in BC in 2011 point out that the cost of basic healthy
food is more that the total amount of money that welfare provides for all
subsistence  food, personal hygiene, clothes, travel, etc.

Raise the Rates http://raisetherates.org/
Raise the Rates is a coalition of community groups and organizations concerned
with the level of poverty and homelessness in British Columbia.

Cost of Poverty in BC: Huge Human Suffering
and at least $4 Billionhttp://raisetherates.org/2012/06/28/cost-of-poverty-in-bc-huge-human-suffering-and-at-least-4-billion/
June 28, 2012
Poverty in BC is the worst in Canada with 1 in 9 people in poverty and 1 in
5 children under the age of 6 living in poverty. BC also has the worst inequality
gap between the richest and poorest 20% of the population. Poverty and inequality
cause immense human suffering and harms individuals, families and society.
(...)
On Tuesday, June 26, over 130 people crowded into a meeting to discuss the
Cost of Poverty in BC, which was hosted by Raise the Rates. A panel of experts,
both from life and research, movingly outlined some of the many costs.
- includes contributions by the following:
* Harold Lavender, a person living on disability
* Colleen Boudreau, a mother on disability
* Carol Martin, an Aboriginal women working with the Downtown Eastside Womens
Centre
* Charan Gill, of Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society
* Fraser Stuart, living on welfare
* Robin Loxton, with the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities
* Colleen McGuire, author of the Cost of Eating in BC
* Ted Bruce, an expert on public health
* Adrienne Montani of First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition
* Iglika Ivanova, an economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
(CCPA)
* Seth Klein, Director of CCPA's BC OfficeThe total package of raising income, providing universal
child care, building houses, etc would cost around $4 billion dollars which
is half the cost of poverty. Ending poverty in BC is sound economic policy
and good social policy; it would make BC a better place to live and a province
to be proud of.

Source:
Raise the Rateshttp://raisetherates.org/
Raise the Rates is a coalition of community groups and organizations concerned
with the level of poverty and homelessness in British Columbia

---

British Columbia MLA Welfare Challenge Updatehttp://mlaonwelfare.com/
Tuesday, February 1, after a last night couch surfing in Surrey,
BC MLA Jagrup Brar ended his month of living on the welfare rate of $610.
He lost 26 pounds in weight, ended up $7 in debt and had to sell his backpack
to have enough money to take the Skytrain back to his home in Surrey.

British ColumbiaWelfare Fact Sheet (140K,
12 pages) http://mlaonwelfare.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/welfarefactsheet1.pdf
PDF file date: January 16, 2012
At the end of May 2011 Raise the Rates launched the MLA Welfare Challenge.
This challenged one or more of BC's MLAs to live on welfare for a month to
gain real life experience of living on welfare. For the month of January,
2012, Jagrup Brar (MLA Surrey Fleetwood) will live on the single persons
welfare rate of $610 for everything. Raise the Rates experience is that
people cannot live a healthy life on welfare. A key part of any poverty reduction
strategy, a policy aim that all BC MLAs say they support, is raising welfare.
This fact sheet provides information on the position of people on welfare
in BC in November 2011.
- twelve pages of BC welfare information including :
* Who Gets Welfare ("In November 2011 a total of 178,128 people in BC
live on welfare")
* Recession Hits (impacts of the 2008-2009 recession)
* Welfare Rates and Poverty (average wages, poverty lines and welfare incomes)
* The Maze and Obstacle Course of Welfare (Who can qualify? - Barriers to
Welfare and Getting Back to Work)
* Welfare and Housing
* Support Payments and Other Necessities
* Single Parent Families cannot afford to Live or raise Healthy Children
* Welfare Doesnt cover cost of Living and Housing
* Cost of Food and Living
* Punishing Children (Welfare lone parents not allowed child support from
former partners
* Historic Welfare rates since 1980 (BC's welfare rate for a single person
in 2012 is $610 monthly; if this amount were adjusted for inflation, the same
person would receive $930 monthly)

Five Myths About Welfarehttp://mlaonwelfare.com/5-myths-about-welfare/
1. It is easy to get on welfare
2. Life on welfare is easy
3. People on welfare dont want to work
4. Lots of people are defrauding the system
5. It costs too much to fix poverty

October 27, 2006Time
to raise welfare rates
SFU economist Jon Kesselman makes the links between rising homelessness and
BCs abysmal welfare rates in this commentary from the Vancouver
Sun:
"A whole $6! Every day! Imagine that you wake up each morning with six
dollars burning a hole in your pocket. Lets see: How might you spend
your money? Maybe contemplate breakfast, a midday meal and supper at nightfall?
(...) Welfare benefits for employable single persons in B.C. are $185 per
month (the daily $6) plus a $325 monthly housing allowance, for a grand total
of $510. These figures have been unchanged since 1994 despite a rise in living
costs of nearly 30 per cent; the benefits are just one-third of what Statistics
Canada computes as the low-income cutoff. So should we be surprised to find
B.C.s city streets and lanes looking increasingly like scenes from a
Dickens novel? (...) A campaign endorsed by many community groups, called
Raise the Rates (www.raisetherates.org), may help to heighten
public awareness."
Posted October 27 by:
Marc LeeRelentlessly Progressive Economics
"Commentary on Canadian economics and public policy"

Source:Raise the Rates
Raise the Rates is a coalition of community groups and organisations concerned
with the level of poverty and homelessness in British Columbia.
MLA Welfare Challenge was a project of Raise the Rates.

Resist.ca
is a project of the Resist! Collective"The Resist! Collective is a group
of Vancouver-based activists working to provide communications and technical services,
information and education to the greater activist community. The Resist! Collective
(Resist!) and resist.ca project grew out of the old Vancouver TAO collective.

Save
Low Income Housing Coalition - VancouverThe
Save Low Income Coalition is working to preserve and increase low-income housing
units in the Greater Vancouver Area and to raise the rates of shelter allowance
for income assistance recipients. Active coalition members
include non-profit, staffed as well as volunteer-based community groups. Many
of us are advocates and some of us are residents localized in the Downtown Eastside
area.

Self
Advocate Net
Sponsored by the Ministry of Human Resources, this great site from Abbotsford
in BC's Fraser Valley is an excellent example of how well partnerships between
government, the private sector and the NGO sector can nurture and support
communities that might otherwise be marginalized. "SelfAdvocateNet.com is a strong voice for people with intellectual
disabilities during the good times and the difficult times. We like to let
people know what is possible if they speak up and stand up for their rights.
We want to share the positive experiences through other peoples' stories and
learn from their situations. But we also want to let people know about the
important issues that are coming up that we need to face so that we will be
safe in our communities and treated with respect."
- incl. links to About Us - FAQ - Music - Movies - Health and Wellness - Dear
Jill - Photos - Our Stories- Groups - News - Links - Guestbook - Maps - Useful
Tools - Barb's Tidbits - James' Ideas - Site map

Social Housing Coalitionhttp://www.socialhousingbc.com/
The Social Housing Coalition is a non-partisan, volunteer coalition spanning
Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, and reaching out to the rest of British
Columbia. We are a grassroots coalition comprised of those impacted by the
current housing crisis, and we are determined to make social housing a major
issue in the upcoming provincial election and beyond.
You can participate in this popular movement for social housing in a number
of ways.

Precarious
& Vulnerable: Lone Mothers on Income Assistance (PDF - 235K, 31
pages)December 9, 2008By Penny Gurstein and Michael GoldbergThe British
Columbia government introduced sweeping changes to its income assistance program
in 2002. Although the changes made life more difficult for everyone on income
assistance, lone mothers and their children were particularly hard hit. This report
explores the impact that these changes have had on lone mothers with young children.

Source:SPARC
BCThe Social Planning and Research Council (SPARC) of BC is a non-partisan,
charitable organization operating in BC since 1966. We work together with communities
on Accessibility, Community Development Education, Income Security, and Community
Social Planning.

Municipality
Votes Papers 2008 (PDF - 234K, 11 pages)October 14, 2008This publication
is intended to help you engage with local candidates in the municipal election
on November 15, 2008. Its all about social issues that impact your community;
questions that matter to you; and the role that the municipal governments can
choose to take in addressing them.- covers the following
topics:* Local Democracy * Affordable Housing * Inclusion
& Accessibility * Diversity in Civic Engagement * Transportation * Municipal
Governments & Community Social Planning

Left
Behind: A Comparison of Living Costs and Employment and Assistance Rates in
BC (PDF file - 593K, 36 pages)
December 2005
By Michael Goldberg and Kari Wolanski
"The primary finding of this report is that it is harder for income assistance
recipients to make ends meet in 2005 than it was three years ago following
cuts to welfare benefit rates in 2002. Few material changes have been made
to welfare policy since the last edition of this report in 2002, in which
we described the significant reforms to welfare in BC made that year. However,
in the intervening years, inflation has continued to erode the meagre incomes
available to people receiving social assistance in BC. The already inadequate
benefit levels have remained static in spite of increasing costs, particularly
for shelter, heating, and transportation.".

StrategicThoughts.com
This is the personal website of David Schreck - political pundit, former MLA and
former Special Advisor to the (NDP) Premier, among other accomplishments.

Links - collection
of ~100 links to (mostly BC) online resources covering a wide range of topics,
with a special focus on health economics, health unions, politics and advocacy.

Some samples of David Schreck's articles:

November 26, 2010Vulnerable
BC Workers
On November 1st, 2001,BC's minimum wage was set at $8.00 an hour. It is now
the lowest minimum wage in Canada. Labour Minister Iain Black announced that
he has asked senior ministry staff to meet with key business and labour stakeholders
to discuss employment standards, including minimum wage. (...) A myth advanced
by critics of a higher minimum wage is that it kills entry level jobs for
young people...
Source:StrategicThoughts.com

Related link:

Labour
Ministry to Gather Input on Employment Standards
November 25, 2010
VICTORIA  Labour Minister Iain Black today announced that he has asked
senior ministry staff to meet with key business and labour stakeholders to
discuss employment standards, including minimum wage. (...) Black said staff
will have focused discussions with organizations that represent the interests
of employees and employers, as well as independent experts, over the next
two to three months.
Source:Ministry of Labour

March 2, 2010Budget
2010
Premier Campbell and his government took a major dive in public opinion polls
when British Columbians learned in July about the HST, not mentioned during
the election, and about the true size of the deficit, misrepresented during
the election. Is there any reason to think the Campbell government is more
credible now than it was during last year's election? Evidence from the March
2nd budget suggests they've learned nothing.
Source:Strategic Thoughts
- website of David Schreck
[ more budget 2010 information and analysis]
- a separate page of this website ]

February 2, 2010Income
Assistance Caseloads Up - Yet Again
The latest welfare statistics are more bad news for the Campbell government,
and for those who hope for mercy in the March 3rd budget. Relative to December
2008, the caseload in December 2009 increased by 45.4% for those categorized
as "expected to work", and by 15.6% for all recipients of assistance.
That's not the half of it since relative to December 2006 the "expected
to work" caseload was was up 118%, and the total caseload was up 27%.
This is bad news for the 130,341 income assistance "cases" and bad
news for the provincial budget. (...) In his story in The Tyee about cutbacks
to the income assistance appeal process [see the link below], Andrew MacLeod
may have hit on why the government feels confident that disability caseloads
won't takeoff. MacLeod noted that while the annual report on the appeal process
was released in December, it escaped notice in the media. Income assistance
caseload statistics are reported monthly, but unlike monthly estimates of
employment and unemployment from Statistics Canada, these reliable administrative
data are usually ignored by the media.

Complaints
of Unfairness Shoot up from Welfare, Disability RecipientsIndependent government tribunal had budget cut as appeals rose 46 per
centBy Andrew MacLeod
February 1, 2010
The Employment and Assistance Appeals Tribunal is an independent government
body that listens and rules when people feel they've been treated unfairly
by the ministries that administer disability assistance, welfare and childcare
subsidies. Last year the number of appeals to the tribunal jumped by 46 per
cent. At the same time the office dealt with a 17 per cent budget cut by shrinking
the size of panels that hear appeals and by using a computer program to train
new tribunal members. The details are included in the
tribunal's 2008-2009 annual report (PDF file - 1.9MB, 32 pages)
Source:TheTyee.ca
"...your independent alternative daily
newspaper reaching every corner of B.C. and beyond"

Lies,
damn lies and government websites:David Schreck is an independent watchdog
of the British Columbia government. In the article below, he "reviews"
the new BC Government Home Page by systematically debunking several of the self-congratulatory
factoids (found in the section entitled For
the Record: Facts on Current B.C. Issues) from the govt. site.

BC
Government's Revised Website - A Commentary by David SchreckDecember
15, 2009"(...) British Columbians have learned the hard way after the
last election that the B.C. Liberals suffer an enormous credibility gap. Whether
it is their claims about the HST, promises about the deficit, commitments to protect
health and education or simply statistical facts about child poverty and employment,
you have to check the facts for yourself because you can't believe what the government
tells you, updated website or not."- includes half a dozen links to
authoritative sources of data that contradict or correct statements found in the
For the Record page, notably with respect to the government's claims about
poverty reduction and job creation.

September 1,
2009Budget
Deficit and DeceitThe Campbell government plans to balance its
budget by 2013-2014. That plan calls for tabling a budget in February 2013, holding
an election in May 2013 and having a new replacement budget in September 2013.
It looks like the B.C. Liberals think voters will fall for the 2009 trick again
and again. Between now and the next election, all of the budgets that will be
tested by audited financial statements, Public Accounts, will show deficits, beginning
with a deficit of $2.8 billion this year. You won't find it in the government's
budget highlights, but Finance Minister Colin Hansen's September budget update
announced an 18% increase in MSP premiums. BC has set several Canadian records:
the highest child poverty, the lowest minimum wage and the only province to use
regressive premiums to fund health care.Source:Strategic
Thoughts.com---NOTE: for links to the
September 2009 BC Budget Update and analysis of those measures, go to the
2009 Canadian Government Budgets Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/budgets.htm---

More
bad news for welfareMay 30, 2009BC's latest welfare "statistics"
were released mid-afternoon on Friday, May 29th [see the link below]. The "temporary
assistance - expected to work" caseload increased 52.9% between April 2008
and April 2009. The total caseload increased by 14.4%, year over year. "Expected
to work - two parent families" increased by 77.1%. Not only is the welfare
caseload increasing, but the rate of increase is increasing! When the August 2008
data were released on the eve of the Vancouver by-elections, five months before
the latest budget, the data showed an increase in "temporary assistance -
expected to work" of "only" 20.2% and in the total welfare caseload
of "only" 5.5%[ incl. links to three related resources ]

---Related
links:

New
BC welfare numbers show continued climb
By Andrew MacLeod
May 29, 2009
VICTORIA  The British Columbia welfare caseload continued to rise in
April, according to government figures released today. The total number of
cases grew by 0.7 percent since March. The number in the expected to work
category receiving temporary assistance was 54 percent higher in April than
it was in June 2008. The total number of clients, including those on disability
assistance, was 161,780 in April. That's still significantly lower than the
244,821 in 2001 when the then new B.C. Liberal Party took office and tightened
eligibility requirements. In 1995 there were 367,387 clients on the welfare
caseload.
[ incl. links to three related resources ]
Source:The Tyee

---

Welfare
in BC Up 49.8% - Revealed Post ElectionMay
15, 2009The first crumb of what will likely be a lot more previously hidden
bad news came out three days after the election when the Ministry of Housing and
Social Services released welfare statistics (see "Related links" below)
that should have been released by the end of April. The statistics for March 2009
show that for the category of "temporary assistance expected to work"
the caseload increased by 49.8% between March 2008 and March 2009. The total welfare
caseload is up 13.6% relative to a year earlier, and stands at the highest level
since 2002. The welfare caseload has not only been increasing, but the increase
has been accelerating. That was taking place in 2008 when Premier Campbell was
still claiming that BC would duck the worst of the recession. It was worst yet
during the election campaign when Premier Campbell was saying "Keep BC Strong".
Thousands of British Columbians aren't looking at "keeping" BC strong,
they just desperately want to regain their own strength.

BC
in Recession?January 10, 2009
Governments frequently release bad news around quitting time on Friday afternoons.
The Campbell government did that trick one better when it released welfare
statistics late on the afternoon of New Year's Eve. Those statistics
showed the number of cases classified as "temporary assistance expected
to work" up 24.3% in November 2008 relative to November 2007. The increase
was startling but only the latest jump in a trend that started in July when
the "expected to work" caseload increased by 16.3% relative to July
2007. The total welfare (BC Employment and Assistance) caseload, including
disabled, increased by 7.2% between November 2007 and November 2008. Welfare
statistics aren't the only indicator of an economic downturn in British Columbia.
Statistics
Canada reported that the number of British Columbians receiving regular
employment insurance benefits in October 2008 (the latest data) increased
by 18.2% relative to October 2007. That increase was only exceeded in Ontario
where the increase was 18.4%. Alberta was third amongst the provinces with
an 8.2% increase, far behind Ontario and BC. [ more...
]

Stagnant
WagesFebruary 23, 2008
The February 2008 edition of Statistics Canada's Perspectives on Labour and
Income contains an article titled "Earnings in the last decade".
It analyses average hourly earnings between 1997 and 2007. The results are
not what the Campbell government usually spins. The Statistics Canada study
found that in constant 2002 dollars the national increase in real wages was
6% over the decade, but it was only 3% in BC. What is more shocking is the
study's finding that the average real wage of managers in BC increased by
15% over the decade while the real wages of other workers showed virtually
no change.

BC
Welfare Caseload UpFebruary 5, 2008The Campbell government
continues to suffer from the excesses of its first term. Time will tell whether
the bungled sale of BC Rail, details of which are unfolding in the courts, will
inflict damage before the May 2009 election. It still has not escaped the consequences
of cutting the Ministry of Children and Family Development as if it were any other
government department, and this week it is being reminded of its 2001 decision
to cut the Mental Health Advocate. For a surprise on the list of memories, who
would have thought that under the hard-hearted Campbell government the welfare
caseload would increase?

A
Lot for Those over $100,000 Income, Little for WelfareFebruary
23"The 2007 Budget did not increase the support portion of the income
assistance rates for most clients. Based on the Ministry's caseload statistics
for December 2006, over 55,000 cases classified as disabled will receive no increase
in their support allowance; they are part of the 62,638 cases who will receive
no increase in support payments. The Campbell government deserves a little credit
for increasing the support allowance for single employable clients, and for adjusting
rates for children, but no one should think that all clients are receiving an
increase - 40% receive no increase in shelter allowances and 64% receive no increase
in support allowances."

Budget
2007-08: Those that Got Get!February 20, 2007"BC Budget
2007 flaunts the statutory requirement for reporting major capital costs, and
it repeats the pattern of the Campbell government for looking after those who
least need it."

A
Lot for Those over $100,000 Income, Little for WelfareFebruary
23, 2007"The 2007 Budget did not increase the support portion of the
income assistance rates for most clients. Based on the Ministry's caseload statistics
for December 2006, over 55,000 cases classified as disabled will receive no increase
in their support allowance; they are part of the 62,638 cases who will receive
no increase in support payments. The Campbell government deserves a little credit
for increasing the support allowance for single employable clients, and for adjusting
rates for children, but no one should think that all clients are receiving an
increase - 40% receive no increase in shelter allowances and 64% receive no increase
in support allowances."

Budget
2007-08: Those that Got Get!February 20, 2007"BC Budget
2007 flaunts the statutory requirement for reporting major capital costs, and
it repeats the pattern of the Campbell government for looking after those who
least need it."

Lower
Health Costs by Helping the HungryOctober 12, 2006According
to the Dietitians of Canada, about 10% of Canadians "lack the funds to purchase
sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences
for an active healthy life." BC's Provincial Health Officer elaborated on
hungry British Columbians in his latest annual report. In the highlights of his
report, he stressed that: "Factors affecting the ability to afford nutritious
food in BC include higher costs of a basic "market basket" of items,
higher housing costs, inadequate social assistance rates, increased levels of
homelessness, and a minimum wage level that can result in even full-time workers
in some BC communities falling below the federal low-income cut-off." By
raising both income assistance rates and the minimum wage, the Campbell government
might lower health care costs and stimulate the economy.

Campbell's
New Era Fails WomenMarch 1, 2004"Gordon Campbell seems to
have a major disconnect with women; perhaps that is why a pamphlet has appeared
on the government caucus website under the heading "A New Era for Women".
It misrepresents what government has done in terms of communities, health services,
child care and self-sufficiency (code language for kicking people off welfare).
The word "equality" does not appear in the pamphlet."Source:
Strategic Thoughts.com

NOTE:
All 37 Women's Centres across the province of British Columbia saw their provincial
funding cut by 100% on March 31, 2004.

NOTE: for more links to info about the Auditor General's
report, see to the Canadian Social Research Links BC
Government Links page

2004
Budget Highlights"Endlessly repeating that the budget is balanced won't make it
so"
February 17, 2004
"The government published its version of budget highlights but it overlooked
many important facts. In an attempt to correct those deficiencies, here is
a citizen's version of highlights from the 2004-05 budget."
* Provincial debt is $39.452 billion, $5.617 billion (16.6%) higher than it
was when the BC Liberals took office.
* Revenue from income tax is projected to be $5.005 billion, $971 million
lower than before the tax cuts.
* Revenue from corporate taxes is $506 million lower than before the tax cuts.
* The budget for the Ministry of Children and Family Development is $1.382
billion, $171 million lower than 2000-01 and a cut of $70 million from last
year.
* The budget for Human Resources is $1.301 billion, a further cut of $117
million from last year.
* 14 Ministries are slated for budget cuts totaling $803 million.
* The forecast allowance, set at $750 million when the Liberals presented
their first budget, was reduced to just $100 million - not much room for error,
but errors won't be revealed until after the next election.
* $124 million was added to the bottom line by changing the method of accounting
(fully including schools, universities, colleges and health authorities).
* Despite claims about more money for education, that money doesn't appear
until 2006.
* People with valuable homes get a break with an increase in the threshold
for clawing back the homeowner grant from $525,000 to $585,000.
* All of the income tax cuts for most middle and low income taxpayers have
been clawed back with increases in regressive taxes and fees.

More
Cuts to Welfare
February 18, 2004
"Just days after the government appeared to back down on its plan to
kick thousands off welfare by being the first province in Canada to impose
arbitrary time limits; it looks like balancing the budget will be at the cost
of the poor."

CCPA
helps Campbell with Unrealistic Proposals
February 12, 2004
"On Thursday, during the last question period for the first week of the
new legislative sitting, Speaker Claude Richmond once again encouraged disrespect
for BC's legislature by allowing government backbenchers to run out the clock
asking questions about a paper published by the Canadian Centre for Policy
Alternatives (CCPA). When Opposition House Leader Joy MacPhail was finally
recognized, Richmond announced that the time for question period had expired.
The CCPA did not help the New Democrats with its paper titled "BC Solutions
Budget 2004: Getting Ready for 2010". The 29 page document is as valid
as any other external comment on the upcoming BC budget, but it contains unrealistic
and politically unacceptable taxation proposals."

Government
Backs Down over Heartless Policy but won't release numbersFebruary 6, 2004
"(...) What they don't say is that at the last minute government added
a new 25th reason for exempting people from the arbitrary time limit. The
new exemption is "People who have an employment plan, are complying with
their plan, are actively looking for work, but have not been successful in
finding employment." Everyone on assistance has completed an employment
plan because it is a requirement in the initial application. It has always
been a requirement that employable people look for work. In other words,
rule 25 exempts everyone and the two year rule was a cruel exercise that caused
needless anxiety for people who are already down on their luck."
Related Links - see the Canadian Social Research Links BC
Welfare Time Limits page

Trouble
for Campbell with 40 Unhappy MLAs
January 27, 2004
"A cabinet shuffle in an atmosphere of crisis, two weeks prior to the
legislature opening with the Speech from the Throne, is bad news for Premier
Campbell."

2003
in Review
December 15, 2003
"In December it is the custom to look back and review the year. 2003
was a bizarre year in BC politics. It had bookends of Premier Campbell's
mug shot being displayed for all to see following his night in a US jail
at one end, and at the other end chaos in BC Ferries..."

Making
the Disabled BegApril 25, 2003
"Why is the Campbell government turning to charities to assist people
with disabilities overcome barriers to employment? Human Resources Minister
Murry Coell used the April staged cabinet meeting to announce a $20 million
endowment to the Vancouver Foundation, the income from which will fund annual
grants. (...) Coell's approach may have more to do with political networking
than it does with helping people with disabilities."

After Welfare - Contrasting Studies (British Columbia)
March 27, 2003
"Statistics Canada has released a study on people who leave welfare
that contrasts with the story spun by BC's Minister of Human Resources,
Murray Coell. "Life After Welfare: The Economic Well Being of
Welfare Leavers in Canada during the 1990s" by Marc Frenette
and Garnett Picot provides some fascinating contrasts with Coell's
characterization of the 90s and with what are passing as welfare exit
surveys in his ministry."

Related Link:

Life after welfare : 1994 to
1999 (dead link)March 26, 2003
"Family incomes rose for the majority of people who stopped receiving
welfare benefits during the 1990s. However, for about one out of every
three individuals, family income declined significantly, according
to a first-ever national study of the economic outcome for people
who left welfare rolls."
The link above takes you to a summary of the report.
Complete report:Life
After Welfare: The Economic Well Being of Welfare Leavers in Canada
during the 1990s (PDF file - 332K, 32 pages)
Source : The
Daily [Statistics
Canada]

Leaving Welfare for Work Triples Income(dead link)
Feb. 26, 2003
"British Columbians leaving income assistance for work are almost
tripling their income, according to the Ministry of Human Resources
third exit survey of 1,512 former clients who have been off assistance
for six months. This survey continues the trend that sees the
majority of clients moving into sustainable jobs, earning solid wages
and becoming self-reliant, said Human Resources Minister Murray
Coell. This is precisely the goal of B.C. Employment and Assistance:
to assist people to move away from dependence and take control of
their lives.
Source : Ministry
of Children and Family Development

Closure
Ends Year One - Expect a Terrible Year TwoMay 15, 2002
"One year is down and three are yet to go before the May 17, 2005, election.
In his first year, Premier Gordon Campbell has demonstrated an outrageous
abuse of power. With 77 of 79 seats in the legislature, his House Leader has
threatened to use closure to cut off debate and pass some of his most controversial
bills by May 30th."

Campbell:
A Robin Hood in ReverseMay 14, 2002"Looking back a year is something usually reserved for the week before
New Years, but this week we have the occasion of the first anniversary of
Gordon Campbell's historic election sweep. Who would have thought that the
mild mannered politician who promised to do a better job with social programs
while slashing taxes would make Ontario's Mike Harris look like a leftie?"

Gag
Warning Accompanies Welfare Legislation
April 15, 2002
"Two weeks of relative inactivity for the Campbell government came to
an end Monday with the introduction of five new bills to the Legislature.
(...) Two of the bills introduced on April 15th dealt with changes to BC's
welfare system. Those changes are so extreme that four hours before the legislation
was introduced the Ministry of Human Resources took the unusual step of sending
an email to all staff warning them about their duties as public employees."

Kudos to the Toronto-Dominion Bank and
other Canadian financial
institutions that are offering a range of financial services to low-income
Canadians!BOO to Moneymart-style predatory lending practices!

TD
takes poor into account : Direct Deposit Initiative
keeps social assistance cheques out of hands of pricey payday lendersBy Rita Trichur
January 5, 2010
Toronto-Dominion Bank is using an innovative pilot program that specifically
targets low-income earners as new clients  a financial intervention
of sorts to prevent those folks from cashing their social assistance cheques
at costly payday lenders. Canada's second-largest bank has set up kiosks in
some government offices in British Columbia to reach out to these vulnerable
consumers and snag them as customers just as they receive their welfare cheques.
In some cases, civil servants are now simply referring clients to the closest
TD branch.
Source:Toronto Star

Jean Swanson receives the People's Order
of British Columbia
September 2013COMMENT (by Gilles):
As a rule, I don't tend to highlight awards and distinctions bestowed upon
individuals or groups for their work in advancing progressive social policy.
However, when I stumbled across the article below in The Tyee [ http://thetyee.ca/
], I just had to share it because of the respect and admiration that I have
for Jean Swanson, one of the winners of this year's People's Order of BC from
The Tyee. Read this thoughtful piece by Ben Christopher and learn why Jean
Swanson is a most deserving recipient of this recognition. Kudos, Jean!

Jean Swanson's Advocacy for Vancouver's
Impoverishedhttp://thetyee.ca/News/2012/09/10/Jean-Swanson/Decades of activism in the Downtown Eastside earned her the People's Order
of BC from Tyee readers.
By Ben Christopher
September 10, 2012
Jean Swanson is an anti-poverty activist who lives and works in Vancouver.
Coordinator of the Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) and founder of
the Group End Legislated Poverty, Swanson's work aims to help end poverty
in Canada's poorest postal code, Vancouver Downtown Eastside. (...) Jean Swanson
has made a big difference in the lives of many of B.C.'s and Canada's lowest
income citizens.

Time for a CBC Right to Food DayPublic broadcaster should launch it instead of pushing the failed food
bank charity model.http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2012/12/28/Time-For-CBC-Right-to-Food-Day/
By Graham Riches
December 28, 2012Now that this year's CBC's Food Bank Day in B.C. is
over surely it's time to rethink this annual event stretching back more than
25 years. In light of persistent and growing hunger in our affluent province,
there's a compelling argument to reconsider our national broadcaster's decades
long public support for charitable food banks. This year the CBC raised a
record setting $567,085 to be distributed to food banks across the province.
In appreciation, CBC studios in Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, Kamloops and
Prince George opened their doors to donors, of whom 5,000 in Vancouver met
national and local broadcasting personalities, billed as stars, including
Peter Mansbridge and George Stroumboloupoulos, the first Canadian Ambassador
Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Program. A
fun time to be sure, not bad for the ratings and all for a very good cause.
What's not to like?(...)The problem is that food banks have become the publicly
accepted way of meeting this basic human need, with the CBC over the years
fostering this widely held perception. How has this come about when food poverty
remains deeply entrenched and widening income inequality, grossly inadequate
welfare benefits and social program cutbacks highlight the continuing failure
of public policy and government accountability for addressing domestic hunger?
(...)If overcoming food poverty is the goal, hungry people
require adequate purchasing power to go into a store like anyone else and
buy the foods of their choice. Why not income security, a rebuilt social safety
net and a Poverty Reduction Plan for B.C as the focus of next year's CBC Right
to Food Day?

[ Author Graham Riches is director of the UBC
School of Social Work and Family Studies with an interest in food security,
welfare policy and human rights. ]

---

NOTE: This is the eighth
of The Tyee's Inspiring Ideas for 2013 series:http://thetyee.ca/Series/2012/12/19/Big-Ideas-2013/[Click the link above to access all of the following ideas.]
Idea #1: 'MOOC': Saviour of Higher Ed?
Idea #2: Turn Complex Problems into Games
Idea #3: Want to Defeat Harper? Force Cooperation
Idea #4: Teach Teachers How to Be Advocates
Idea #5: 'You Are Not a Loan'
Idea #6: Assess the Public Health Impact of New Laws
Idea #7: Make 'Affordable' the New 'Livable'
Idea #8: Time for a CBC Right to Food Day

The Problem with Food Banks : Hungry people
must be fed.
But critics say framing food as charity takes the root issues off government's
plate.http://thetyee.ca/News/2012/04/25/Problem-With-Food-Banks/
April 25, 2012
By Colleen Kimmett
It's true that Canada signed and ratified the UN Declaration of Human Rights
in 1967 -- and other international agreements following -- that guarantee
the right to food. But it's not entrenched in our constitution, our domestic
law. The right to food is particularly problematic in the Canadian context,
because social rights, like welfare for example, are provincial responsibilities."It's
the old problem of Canadian federalism," says Graham Riches, professor
emeritus at UBC's School of Social Work. "It becomes messy in terms of
whose government is really responsible for this." Graham was one of the
first academics looking at food banks from a social justice perspective. In
1986 he published Food Banks and the Welfare Crisis, linking the proliferation
of food banks throughout the 1980s to the recession of that era, followed
by the rise of neo-liberalism and the erosion of the social welfare system.

---

Harper's Plan to Dismantle Canada's Safety Nets
His social engineering aim is to privatize social services and leave the job
to charities.http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2011/11/07/Harper_Dismantles_Safetynets/
By Murray Dobbin
7 Nov 2011
The Harper government's announcement that it will change the laws regarding
capital gains taxes to encourage more charitable giving strikes an ominous
note for the country's political culture. Harper is mimicking -- through tax
incentives -- the Conservatives in Britain who are trying to pull the same
trick with what they call the Big Society initiative: promoting the privatization
of social services through increased private giving. Both efforts smack of
social engineering from the right. When Harper stated that we would not recognize
the country after he was through, this is in part what he was talking about.
(...)
The political process of reversing 40 years of nation-building (begun by Brian
Mulroney and Paul Martin) consists of two stages. The
crucial second stage, the gradual dismantling of federal government activism,
depends on the first: the gutting of federal revenues. Logically, that stage
was implemented early on with the huge, five-year, $60 billion tax cut plan
implemented by Jim Flaherty in 2007, the year following Harpers first
election victory. That move, and the cut to the GST, created the deficit --
the useful crisis Harper needed.

---

Harper's
Goal: Create a New Irrational Reality
As PM re-engineers Canadian society, he never lets facts get in the way.
By Murray Dobbin
May 23, 2011In observing Stephen Harper for the past 20 years,
I have often been reminded of the line from Shakespeare: "The first thing
we do, let's kill all the lawyers." Replace lawyers
with scientists, and you capture the role that the irrational plays in the
politics of the prime minister.It shows up everywhere:* Over a dozen new crime bills and billions on prisons
when the science tells him crime is on a steady downward trend.* A determination to close Insite, Vancouver's safe
injection site, despite several studies that show it saves lives and gets
people into treatment (and off heroin).
* An obsession with ending the long-gun registry, despite
its constant use by (and support from) every police force in the country.
* Massive cuts to science funding agencies, which promoted
scores of critical studies and helped keep Canada in the forefront of several
disciplines.
* A foreign policy driven not by a rational determination
of Canada's interests, but by a kind of visceral and absolute dedication to
the interests of another country, Israel.
* Determined support for Quebec's asbestos mining,
when literally every health agency and every credible study tells him it kills
100,000 people a year.
* And the killing off of the long-form census, which
every expert on governance said was critical to the delivery of government
services.It may be only a slight exaggeration to suggest that
if science supports something, there is a good chance Harper will oppose it.
(...)
[ Related link : Murray Dobbin's blog
]

---

Saviours
in the Shadows: Grandparents Raising Kids
In BC alone, 10,000 children live with grandparents, many struggling for support.
A special report.By Robyn Smith
3 Feb 2011
(...)By 2006, more than 65,000 Canadian grandchildren were living with one
or two grandparents [Source: StatCan].
Nearly 10,000 of them live in B.C. It's an arrangement often created by trauma,
though every story is different. Source:TheTyee.ca

Recent related link
from Ontario:

Family
support: Help grandma help the kidsJanuary 21, 2011
By Craig Glover
For the second time in less than a year a tribunal has ordered the Ontario
provincial government to reinstate a $240 monthly benefit that helps grandparents
raise their needy grandchildren.
Source:Toronto Star

---

What
Happened to Welfare Applicants Who Dropped from Radar?
Government failed to track those who stopped applying, then didn't file tax
returns.By Andrew MacLeod
February 3, 2011
Many people who started applying for welfare in British Columbia but didn't
finish the application process made more money than they would have had they
received assistance, a British Columbia government study said. [See the link
to the study below). But the study only included people who filed income tax
returns for three years in a row, leading one welfare observer to conclude
the government still knows little about how changes to the system in 2002
affected the most vulnerable. At that time the government introduced, among
other changes, a three-week delay in the process where applicants were expected
to look for work.
(...)
In a March 2009, report called "Last
Resort," (PDF - 2.2MB, 132 pages), the
B.C. Ombudsperson's Office said the ministry had agreed to find out whether
people who discontinue their application process move on to employment or
educational programs within two months, and to report their findings publicly.
While the government's outcomes report obtained by The Tyee confirms many
people fail to complete the application process, it adds little to what's
known about what happens to those people. "After the [2002] change in
the application process, 58 per cent of applicants that were not exempted
from the three-week work search requirement did not return for the second
stage of the application process," the report said.Source:The Tyee

----------------------

The BC Government study:

Outcomes
of BC Employment and Assistance (BCEA) Applicants that* do
not Complete the Application Process (PDF - 516K, 16 pages)
January 2011
The analysis in this report uses tax data in Statistics Canadas Longitudinal
Administrative Databank (LAD) to examine the income of applicants that did
not complete the income assistance application process over the period 2000
to 2004.
Specific findings of the report are:
- The median after-tax income of non-returning applicants is higher than what
they would have received on full-time, full-year income assistance.
- The median income of non-returning applicants increases over the two-year
follow-up period, indicating that they are financially better off in the
years after their uncompleted application for income assistance.
Source:
[ BC Ministry of Social Development
]

------------------------------------------------------------* Grammar Police Comment:
There appears to be a collective inability in the BC Ministry of Social Development
to tell the difference between "that" and "who".In the title of this study, the fragment "Applicants
that do not complete..." should be "Applicants WHO do not complete..."'Who' refers to people. 'That' and 'which' refer to groups or things.Source : http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/whoVwhVt.asp
------------------------------------------------------------

Lousy
Cases Against 'Overpaid' Welfare Recipients
'Cookie cutter' claims lack facts, invoke obsolete rule, say poverty lawyers. June 16, 2010
By Andrew MacLeod
Lawyers with the British Columbia Public Interest Advocacy Centre are criticizing
the Housing and Social Development Ministry's attempt to take welfare recipients
to court to collect money for overpayments and are asking the ministry to
give them what they need to help people.

In late May the minister responsible, Rich Coleman, said
the ministry had filed 317 cases in small claims court seeking repayments.
Some of the cases involved fraud, while others may have filed incorrect information
that resulted in overpayments, he said at the time.

Lawyers working for BCPIAC say the government's overpayment
cases often fall apart under legal scrutiny, and yet it insists on attacking
people who are little able to defend themselves.
Source:The Tyee

* Welfare's
New Era in BCThe provincial government's tough rules have spawned fear, pain,
a little black comedy, and very real tragedy. A Tyee Special Report by Andrew
MacLeod.

---

Green
Homes, Out of the BoxApril 2010
Shipping containers revolutionized the global economy, making trade possible
on a scale never before seen. Now, these big steel boxes hold the potential
to revolutionize urban living and design. In this series, The Tyee reports
on how these containers are being refashioned into affordable, green buildings
in Europe and Asia and examines how they could be used to solve North America's
housing problems as well.
Three-part series:
[Click the link above toaccess the individual articles.]* Green and Affordable Homes, Out of the Box - 12 Apr 2010* Is this Canada's Most Affordable Green Home? - 13 April 2010* Homeless Housing For Less - 14 April 2010
Source:The Tyee

---

Downtown
Eastside info centre a "whitewash" say residents
By Colleen Kimmett February 1, 2010
(...) Wendy Pederson of the Carnegie Community Action Project called the centre
a "whitewash."
"We're offended that BC Housing is trying to manage the messaging of
homelessness and poverty and the Downtown Eastside. They say that homelessness
is about addiction and mental illness; it's not true," Pederson said.
"We have a housing supply problem. We don't have low-income housing in
this city. We have an income problem. We need to raise welfare."
Source:The Tyee

Related links:

Downtown
Eastside Connect Opens at Woodward's
February 1st, 2010
VANCOUVER  British Columbians, media and visitors to the 2010
Olympic Winter Games can learn about the partnerships and investments
improving the quality of life for people in the Downtown Eastside
at an information centre opened today by Housing and Social Development
Minister Rich Coleman and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. The
Province subsidizes over 7,000 social and supportive housing units
annually and is protecting another 1,280 affordable apartments in
this Vancouver neighbourhood, said Coleman. The Connect
centre shows how these investments have made a positive difference
both socially and economically for Downtown Eastside residents because
of the strong partnerships between the Province, City of Vancouver,
non-profit groups and the private sector. The centre, Downtown
Eastside Connect at Woodwards, features a wide range of information
available in a variety of formats, showcasing innovative housing,
social and economic development programs. The centre will assist international
media to produce stories about the neighbourhood by connecting them
with non-profit organizations that create positive changes in the
community.
Source:BC Housing

The
Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) is a project of the
board of the Carnegie Community Centre Association. CCAP works mostly
on housing, income, and land use issues in the Downtown Eastside (DTES)
of Vancouver so the DTES can remain a low income friendly community.

Also from The Tyee:

Sun,
Province to Promote Governments' Homeless MessageCanWest newspapers co-sponsor government-run
public relations centre in Downtown Eastside during OlympicsBy Sean Holman, 27 Jan 2010
Vancouver's two major newspapers are sponsoring a government-run centre
that will tell international media covering the 2010 Winter Olympics
about how the province is dealing with homelessness issues in the
city's troubled Downtown Eastside. Media observers say The Vancouver
Sun and The Province should investigate the veracity of the information
that will be presented by the centre, not sponsor it. But The Province's
editor-in-chief has said that sponsorship deal would only create a
conflict of interest if it had been arranged by the paper's newsroom
-- which it wasn't.

---

BC
law to deny welfare to some; wording too loose says NDP
By Andrew MacLeod
October 19, 2009
British Columbia housing and social development minister Rich Coleman today
introduced legislation that he says will prevent people with outstanding warrants
for serious crimes from receiving welfare. But New Democratic Party critic
Shane Simpson says the legislation will also affect people who have committed
only minor crimes. The minister has issued a press release that says
one thing and a piece of legislation that says something very different,
said Simpson. They have a blank cheque on who they can capture with
this and that's inappropriate.
Source:The Tyee

Outstanding
warrants to be ineligible for social assistanceNews
ReleaseOctober 19, 2009VICTORIA  The provincial government will
restrict access to income assistance and disability assistance for people with
outstanding indictable arrest warrants in B.C. and other provinces, as well as
arrest warrants under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada). Indictable
offences are the most serious types of offences and include a wide range of crimes
such as assault, breaking and entering, drug trafficking, murder, assault with
a weapon, and assault causing bodily harm.Source:Ministry
of Housing and Social Development

Related
links:

B.C. to deny welfare to alleged criminals(dead link)
October 19, 2009.B.C.
Social Development Minister Rich Coleman plans to cut off welfare and disability
payments to people with outstanding arrest warrants. Critics
are raising concerns about a new bill introduced by the B.C. government that would
deny social assistance or disability benefits to anyone with an outstanding arrest
warrant. The provincial minister for housing and social
development, Rich Coleman, said the bill is aimed mainly at people from other
provinces who move to B.C., although it applies to anyone with an outstanding
warrant for an indictable offence anywhere in the country.Source:CBC

---

Welfare
rules won't apply to other benefits;
People who get low-income tax credits will not have to submit to criminal
record checksBy Justine Hunter
October 20, 2009
While British Columbia seeks to deny welfare benefits to people who are wanted
by police, it does not apply the same standards to people collecting provincial
tax credits. The province does, however, deny inmates of federal prisons from
receiving low-income tax credits, and is currently seeking to expand that
exclusion to include prisoners in provincial jails. The province offers numerous
tax credits to low-income earners, including sales tax and climate-action
rebates. A government official said yesterday there are no plans to require
a criminal background check to screen for outstanding warrants in those cases.
Source:Globe and Mail

---

Bill
urges criminal checks for welfare seekersFirst-of-its-kind law
to weed out those with warrants for serious crimes based on a principle of
punishment,' civil liberties group saysBy Justine HunterOctober
19, 2009British Columbians seeking welfare and disability benefits will be
denied assistance unless they agree to a criminal background check, under proposed
new legislation tabled yesterday. Housing and Social Development Minister Rich
Coleman told reporters that the law, expected to be in effect early in 2010, is
meant to ensure the province is not paying benefits to people who are wanted by
police in other jurisdictions for serious crimes.

Record
Deficit a Big Surprise, Say BC LiberalsDuring May's election
Hansen glimpsed red ink, but lacked a 'crystal ball'.By Andrew MacLeodBritish
Columbia Finance Minister Colin Hansen is projecting a record deficit of $2.8
billion, according to a budget update he presented today. It's a figure five times
larger than the $495 million projected in February and insisted upon by Premier
Gordon Campbell during the election campaign.Source:TheTyee.ca

---

BC's
Bizarre Fiscal PlanThe government seems to be jamming its feet
on both the brake pedal and accelerator.September 1, 2009By Will McMartin"(...)The
Campbell government clearly understands that fiscal and economic stimulus is a
good and necessary thing during the current economic downturn. And, yet, the BC
Liberals also appear to have a perverse obsession about cutting government spending
 no matter the cost to British Columbia's 'general interest'."Source:TheTyee.ca

Why,
in a country as wealthy as Canada, are people going hungry? When Dr. Graham Riches
first looked into the issue of "food insecurity" in the early 1980s,
he was interested in that question. Nearly three decades later, Riches, emeritus
professor of social work at the University of British Columbia, is still trying
to find the answer. This much hasn't changed: For millions of low-income Canadians,
finding -- and affording -- nutritious food is a daily battle. And more and more,
charities are expected to meet the need. Source:TheTyee.ca

Campbell's
Claim that Jobs Lifted Many out of Poverty Proves a MythDelayed government
report shows no real gainsBy Andrew MacLeodApril 27, 2009Jobs
are Premier Gordon Campbell's answer to poverty. That position was repeated during
the April 23 leaders' debate on CKNW radio when he responded to a caller's question
about mandating poverty reduction targets by saying, "A job is, by far, the
best social program you can have." Since taking office in 2001, B.C. Liberals
have insisted they were creating jobs and people are better off. They pointed
to a rapidly declining welfare caseload as an example of that success. And yet,
the NDP and others point out even when B.C.'s economy was strong, the provincial
poverty rate stayed high and the child poverty rate, at 21.9 per cent according
to the most recent report, led the country for five years. Now a new report posted
to the Housing and Social Development Ministry's website following pressure from
The Tyee shows Campbell and his welfare ministers have been wrong on why the welfare
caseload was shrinking and that major changes the Liberals made to the system
did nothing to improve people's incomes.

Province
refused to release report on welfare leaversBy Andrew MacLeod
April 24, 2009 (09:30 am)The British Columbia government has suppressed
a report on what happens to people who leave the province's welfare system, but
now is promising to release it today.
(...) The province has insisted that the rapidly declining welfare caseload
has been the result of more people finding employment. Other research, including
a landmark study by Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives researchers,
and past
Tyee coverage, suggests tightening eligibility rules in 2002 played
a large role in the decline. A recent report by provincial Ombudsman Kim Carter,
Last
Resort (PDF - 2.2MB, 132 pages) , noted, The ministry lacks
evidence to support its conclusion that the reduction in the income assistance
caseload is a result of people leaving assistance for employment.
NOTE:
The above article was posted in the morning on April 24 and the Ministry posted
its report (below) at 2pm (the timestamp on the PDF file). The Tyee will quite
likely have a followup article early in the coming week; check the Tyee home page
for updates.Source:The
Tyee

Income
Levels of BC Employment and Assistance (BCEA) Clients after They Leave Income
Assistance (PDF - 279K, 16 pages)2009 (PDF file dated April 24/09,
2pm)The analysis in this report uses tax data from Statistics Canada to examine
the income of clients that left assistance and never returned. It is a followup
to a previous report, Outcome of those Leaving Assistance, which found
that over 80 percent of employable clients who left assistance had employment
income.Specific findings of the report:· Median total family income
of clients, defined as aftertax aftertransfer income including employment income,
is higher after clients leave income assistance and increases over time.·
Clients who left income assistance have income significantly higher, in some cases
two to three times higher, than they would have receiving income assistance for
the entire year.· Most of the increase is attributable to increases
in employment income.· More...Source:Ministry of Housing and Social Development
(HSD)

Related link from HSD:

Outcomes
of Those Leaving Assistance (PDF - 61K, 6 pages)February 2007"(...)
Since 2002, 88.2% of Expected to Work (ETW) clients who have left assistance and
have not returned as of 2005 have employment income, are attending education or
have other income in the year following their exit from IA."

This
Budget Is Toxic Fudge:BC's government is in denial about the economic realities
we face.By Will McMartinFebruary 18, 2009In a province
where phoney-baloney budgets and fiscal manipulation are as common as rain, BC
Liberal Finance Minister Colin Hansen's 2009/10 plan is as misleading and deceptive
as any we've ever seen. The global economy, as every British Columbian over the
age of three knows by now, has collapsed. Job losses are rising at an ever-increasing
rate; retail sales and housing starts have plunged and commodity prices tanked;
and many of the world's largest financial institutions have imploded. Federal
governments of every ideological stripe, as well as U.S. states and Canadian provinces,
have or are wracking up gigantic fiscal shortfalls.

A
Home for AllThe Tyee's solutions-oriented series on affordable
housing for working people.For too many British Columbians, having
a job or even a two-income family is no longer enough to guarantee a basic, comfortable
place to live -- in fact, the average Metro Vancouver earner can afford only half
a home. In a market that isn't delivering a variety of cost-effective housing,
Tyee investigative editor Monte Paulsen reports on how different approaches to
finance, government policy and design could whittle the costs down to manageable
proportions. And we invite experts to weigh in with their own opinion pieces.The
challenge to the ongoing economic and cultural vibrancy of B.C. is critical. The
conversation about overcoming that challenge starts here.

BC
Jobs Firm a Bust for OntarioPrivate contractor did no better than public effort
it replacedBy Andrew MacLeodOctober 30, 2008If British
Columbia's government wants to know how well its jobs program is working, new
numbers from Ontario might fuel the urge. Ontario's government tried a private
job placement service offered by a B.C. company, but an independent review found
it worked no better than the ministry's own programs and did not save the government
money. The report raises questions about whether the company's programs work any
better in B.C. than they do in Ontario, and whether the B.C. government is looking
closely enough to know. "There were no incremental reductions in [Income
Assistance] that could be attributed to JobsNow," says the report on the
Ontario pilot program produced by Ottawa management consulting firm Goss Gilroy
Inc. and dated Oct. 10, 2008. "JobsNow was not more effective than regular
Ontario Works programming."

Job
Training: Taxpayers Taken for $24 Bus RideFOIs reveal billing for services
not provided.How private contracts inflated cost of welfare-to-work programs.By
Andrew MacLeodSeptember 4, 2008At least one company that helps people
on welfare find jobs was billing the government for services it never provided,
billed more than once when it did provide services and charged an administration
fee of as much as $18 to distribute a $6.40 bus ticket. The details are included
in audits of the contractors providing the B.C. Employment Program and were obtained
by The Tyee through a freedom of information request. In most cases, the names
of the companies and identifying information were removed from the audits prior
to their release. The companies delivering the program are WCG International Consultants
Ltd., GT Hiring Solutions (2005) Inc. and the B.C. Society of Training for Health
and Employment Opportunities. In August the provincial government cancelled an
$8 million contract with WCG to provide services in the Interior, and awarded
it to GT Hiring.

Liberals
to JobWave: You're Fired$8 million job training contract cancelled; work
goes to B.C. competitor.August 29, 2008The company that pioneered
private job placement services in B.C. for people receiving welfare has lost an
$8 million government contract in the province's Interior. A message sent on Aug.
8 by ASPECT-B.C.'s Community Based Trainers to its members working in the sector
said the Ministry of Housing and Social Development had cancelled the Interior
region contract with WCG International Consultants Ltd., which runs the JobWave
program. The company continues to provide B.C. Employment Program services in
other regions of the province.(...)
WCG won a contract in 2005 to provide a pilot project, JobsNow,
in Ontario. The pilot ended over a year ago and has not been renewed. The
Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services prepared an evaluation of
the project but has not released it. Originally scheduled for a fall 2007
release, the ministry's website now says it will be released in summer 2008.

Welfare
Hike Would Make BC 'Magnet' for Poor: MinisterWelfare
Minister Claude Richmond rejects call for 50 per cent raise.By Andrew
MacLeodMay 5, 2008A think tank's proposal to raise welfare rates by 50
per cent is "unreasonable" and would cause British Columbia to become
a "welfare magnet" for people from other provinces, says Employment
and Income Assistance Minister Claude Richmond.

Up
to 15,500 Homeless: ReportTally of BC homeless by health profs far higher
than housing minister's.By Andrew MacLeodJanuary 31, 2008The
number of homeless people in British Columbia may be triple the estimate Housing
Minister Rich Coleman provided to The Tyee last week, according to a new report
by health professors at UBC, SFU and the University of Calgary. In B.C. there
may be as many as 15,500 adults with severe addictions or mental illness who are
homeless, says the 149-page report, Housing and Support for Adults with Severe
Addictions and/or Mental Illness in British Columbia. The report is dated October,
2007, and was released to The Tyee on Jan. 30, 2008.

'Welfare
to Work' Didn't WorkBC Libs sat on own report showing no real gains.By
Bruce WallaceNovember 12, 2007The B.C. government claims to be doing a
great job of moving people off welfare into better lives. But its own welfare
ministry, the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance, compiled a report
in February 2007, titled Outcomes of Those Leaving Assistance, that summarizes
new research contradicting the government's claims of success. And the government
waited eight months to release that report, until a reporter surfaced its existence
just last month.[HINT: scroll to the bottom of the article for links to two
related articles and a series on welfare, all from 2004 and 2005.]

Related
links:

Outcomes
of those Leaving Assistance (PDF file - 64K, 6 pages)February
2007 (posted on the Ministry website October/07)"Since the introduction
of British Columbia Employment and Assistance (BCEA) in April 2002, the employable
income assistance (IA) caseload has declined by 53,850 cases or 70 percent. What
makes this decline even more significant is that it followed a 47 percent decline
in the employable caseload over the preceding six years, following the introduction
of BC Benefits in January 1996."Source:Ministry
of Employment and Income Assistance

Wages
(BC) August-October 2007A laughtillyoucry account of
one man's remarkable working life or attempt at a lack thereof. This eccentric,
irreverent, and witty chronicle is vintage John Armstrong, excerpted in 14 chapters
in The Tyee.

See especially:

Wages: Working Around Welfare (Chapter 5)September 4, 2007"(...)
Downtown Eastside ... was the low point on the cultural map, and those unfit for
hard-working, tax-paying, product-buying society rolled downhill until they got
there and then bumped to a halt."

How
Big Is Taylor's Heart?Share that $4.1 billion surplus with poor kids.By
Steve KerstetterJuly 23, 2007"(...) Taylor and the rest of the BC
Liberals have promised a golden future for B.C., a future that will make the province
the best place to live in Canada. But that goal will never be reached as long
as a significant portion of the population is cut off from the mainstream of community
life by virtue of their very low incomes."TIP: there are links to three
related articles at the bottom of the Taylor article.

BC
Progress Board Releases Discussion Paper on Social ConditionNews
ReleaseDecember 15, 2006On December 15, 2006, the BC Progress Board released
a discussion paper on social condition in British Columbia. The paper, entitled
"The Social Condition in British Columbia", examines the causes and
costs of low income in British Columbia and provides eight suggestions for provincial
and federal government consideration. The report was prepared for the Progress
Board by Dr. Keith Banting, C.M., Queen's Research Chair in Public Policy at Queen's
University."(...) three policy imperatives that flow from federal and
provincial income support programs over the past decade:* Work should pay.*
Educational equality should be a key priority. * Those who cannot be expected
to work should be well supported."

Source:BC
Progress Board"In July 2001, the Premier formed the BC Progress Board,
an independent Panel of eighteen eminent British Columbians from a variety of
backgrounds from around the province. The Board is tasked with benchmarking BC
over time and relative to other jurisdictions, and with providing strategic advice
to the Premier on measures to improve provincial economic performance and the
well-being of British Columbians."[ More
about the BC Progress Board ]

Budget
2007: Cracked Foundation?Critics take crowbars to 'Building a Housing Legacy'By
David BeersFebruary 21, 2007In a $3.2 billion surplus
year, the Campbell government cut financial assistance to college students and
is asking us to wait until next year to find out what it will pay to achieve the
radical cuts to greenhouse emissions promised in last week's throne speech. But
everyone making up to $100,000 got a 10 per cent tax cut. And corporations saw
another $100 million lopped off their taxes, too.

Costco
Rules, Wal-Mart DroolsBucking a big-box myth, a
student finds remarkable variations in how two giants do businessBy
Angela WilsonFebruary 20, 2007Big-box business has a bad name. As one-stop
shopping becomes the new retail model, specialty stores can no longer compete
with multi-national corporations. With employee and growth policies that are fiercely
criticized by activist groups, corporations like Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire are
setting industry standards. However, emerging from the dismal landscape of the
retail industry is an established and innovative competitor. Hidden behind skyrocketing
stacks of bulk merchandise in warehouses across North America, Costco Corporation
has been softly trying to introduce new industry standards since 1983.[HINT:
scroll to the bottom of the article to the readers' comments section for some
interesting views by readers of The Tyee. ]

Is
Child Poverty Up or Down?The Tyee has an interesting
article, Child
Poverty is Down. No, it's Up, about two reports issued in the last
couple months about child poverty. One report issued by the Fraser
Institute claims that less than six per cent of Canadian children live in
poverty; the other report issued by Campaign
2000 said the poverty rate for Canadian children was more than three times
that, over 17 per cent. The Fraser Institute and Campaign 2000 define poverty
very differently. The Fraser Institute includes the cost of only subsistence levels
of food, clothing, housing and a few other necessities, while Campaign 2000 uses
Stats Canada low income cutoffs below which families would find themselves living
in "straitened circumstances."Found in: PovNet

Seven
Solutions to HomelessnessEach is working somewhere else, and will save money
and lives hereJanuary, 9 2007Idea One:
Trade Fairs for the HomelessIdea Two: Raise the Welfare RatesIdea Three:
Train Young WorkersIdea Four: Spread the Love AroundIdea Five: Buy a Few
HotelsIdea Six: Give Addicts Time to HealIdea Seven: Bring Governments
Together- includes links to six more related articles that appeared in
the Tyee during 2006 (scroll down to the bottom of the "Seven Solutions"
article)

How
BC Trimmed 107,000 People from Welfare RollsSome got jobs. Red tape, death
likely knocked out far more.By Andrew MacLeodAugust
18, 2005"It was almost like Dave Nash was trying to prove Premier Gordon
Campbell wrong. Nash, an affable Victoria activist, was a long-term welfare recipient
who was expected to work. But he didn't leave welfare for a job. In October, 2003,
Nash died at the age of 55. Campbell and a succession of human resources ministers
under him during the BC Liberals first mandate - Murray Coell, Stan Hagen
and Susan Brice - have bragged that the rapidly shrinking welfare caseload is
a result of a booming economy and people moving off welfare and into jobs. But
as it turns out, Nash wasn't the only person to leave the welfare rolls via the
morgue. The month he died, he was just one of 161 people who went out that way,
according to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Between
June 2002 and January 2005, a period of 32 months, 6,065 people on welfare died."

Libs'
Welfare-to-Jobs Program a Bust, Reveals Delayed ReportLoses $13 million, high
failure rate and neediest not served.By Andrew MacLeodAugust
11, 2005One of the main arguments in favour of privately-run welfare-to-work
programs like JobWave and Destinations has been that they don't really cost the
taxpayer anything, since they are paid for out of what we save by moving people
off of welfare. But an 11-month-old report prepared for the provincial government,
quietly added to the province's website this week, shows that people in the programs
do only marginally better in their job hunts than people who aren't in the programs.
The government won't start saving money because of the programs for six or seven
years, if ever."

Studies
in Policy and Practice"SPP is an innovative interdisciplinary
MA graduate program of critical studies for professionals and non-professionals
involved in activism,human services, and community work. The program provides
graduates with a strong grounding in critical analysis for developing practice-based
careers and pursuing advanced degrees in interdisciplinary studies and other disciplines."

Publications-
links to reports going back to May 2001 on a wide range of issues including: housing,
the two-year welfare time limit in BC, women, disability, the Canada Pension Plan
Disability Program, ananalysis of .C.'s Employment and Assistance (welfare) Acts,
and much more...[TIP: click "Past Publications" in the right-hand
margin of the Publications page for previous years' reports.]

Some sample
reports from SPP:

Housing Thousands of Women (focus on British
Columbia)By the Women's Housing Action Team (University of Victoria) "On
December 1, 2005, the Women's Housing Action Team and the University of Victoria
released a major report, Housing Thousands of Women. There are two parts
to the report: (1) Original research on housing experiences and requirements of
older women, aboriginal, immigrant, and women living with disability, and (2)
Policy implications for housing women, in particularly a graphic "Women's
Housing Wheel" on the requirements for housing according to the realities
and experiences of women."Complete report:Housing Thousands of Women: An edited collection
of the works of the Womens Housing Action Team (PDF file - 1.3MB,
129 pages)
December 2005

Housing
Realities and Requirements for Women Living with Disabilities in the Capital
Region of British Columbia (PDF file - 24K, 9 pages) by Pam Alcorn,
Heather Gropp, Joanne Neubauer, and Marge Reitsma-StreetJanuary 2004 Womens
Housing Action Team, Victoria BC"Over 21,000 women lived in low income
households in the Victoria Capital Region and spent 30% of their income on shelter
according to the authors of the report, Housing Policy Options for Women
Living in Urban Poverty: An Action Research Project in Three Canadian Cities2
published in 2001. There is, however, little information on the housing situations
or perceptions of women themselves who are living with disabilities. A research
study by the Womens Housing Action Teamwas conducted in 2003 to help redress
this gap. This short report offers a commentary on the magnitude of concerns and
a summary of housing realities and requirements identified by a diverse group
of women living with visible and invisible physical disabilities in the Capital
Regional District of British Columbia."

A
New Era of Welfare:Analysis of the B.C.s Employment and Assistance Acts
(PDF file - 219K, 11 pages)Heather J. Michael and Dr. Marge Reitsma-StreetAugust
19, 2002 - In-depth analysis of the provisions of the new welfare legislation
tabled in the Legislature, including the seven major changes resulting from the
proposed BC Employment and Assistance Act : 1. Drastic new restrictions
on eligibility. 2. Significant elimination of benefits. 3. Significant
cuts in welfare benefits. 4. Significant increase in the use of for-profit
firms determining eligibility and enforcing cuts and restrictions. 5. Significant
increase in monitoring daily behaviors of workers and applicants. 6. Significant
increase in punishments. 7. Drastic reductions in accessible, public, fair
negotiating procedures regarding eligibility and benefits. Source : Studies
in Policy and Practice Program at the University
of Victoria

The
British Columbia Atlas of Wellness(2007)The BC Atlas of Wellness
was created in partnership with the University of Victoria Geography Department,
and it uses the ActNow BC initiative (2005) as a framework to present its findings.
It consists of more than 270 maps and supporting tables that provide data related
to approximately 120 wellness-related indicators for B.C. communities, where positive
and negative indicators are offset against each other to give an overall wellness
score.

What's new?

Supplements
to The BC Atlas of Wellness, (organized in reverse chronological order)based
on data from the Canadian Community Health Survey:

* The
Geography of Wellness and Well-being Across Canada (2009)This
Supplement examines geographic patterns of wellness and wellbeing among Canadian
provinces and territories, and it examines differences between genders and among
differing age cohorts at the national and individual provincial and territorial
levels.

* The Seniors Supplement (2008)
This supplement focuses on seniors wellness, and it provided maps of
39 separate indicators at the 16 Health Service Delivery Areas level for the
province based on the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey.

********************************

Related
links:

ActNow BC initiative
(BC Govt.)
ActNow BC was introduced in early 2005 to encourage British Columbians to
make healthy lifestyle choices to improve their quality of life, reduce the
incidence of preventable chronic disease, and reduce the burden on the health
care system. ActNow BC is an integrated, government-wide approach that engages
the contributions of partners in other levels of government (e.g., municipalities),
non-government organizations, schools, communities, and the private sector
to develop and deliver programs and services to assist individuals to quit
or never start smoking, to be more physically active, eat healthier foods,
achieve and maintain a healthy weight, and make healthy choices in pregnancy.

Finding
Out What Happens to Former Clients - U.S. Publication Date: July 22,
2003 "To measure lasting effects of nonprofit programs, clients must
be tracked after they leave services. Information on status at some point later--perhaps
three, six, nine, or 12 months--is needed to measure outcomes, to assess program
results, and to identify needed improvements. Drawing from lessons learned by
community-based nonprofits, the guide offers practical advice on how to collect
these data efficiently, successfully, and at reasonable cost. Primarily geared
to meet the needs of nonprofit managers and professional social service staff,
it offers step-by-step procedures, model materials (including planning tools and
feedback forms), and suggestions for keeping costs low."Table
of Contents (HTML) - incl. full text of preface, acknowledgments and Introduction
onlyComplete
report (PDF file - 252K, 43 pages)Order
Online (to obtain a paper copy)

The Changing City
Vancouver in 1978 and 2003It's not social policy, but this collection
of seven (times two) breathtaking panoramic photos of Vancouver in
1978 and 2003 is very impressive, and definitely worth sharing.
Clicking on one of the links opens a page with a photo of a particular
section of the False Creek area in 1978; this photo slowly transforms
into the same scene in 2003. Be sure to move the scroll bar at the
bottom of the browser to the right as the photo changes to see the
entire scene. If you use Netscape, this effect doesn't work, so you'll
have to click "Rollover" and click on each of the two dates
to see both photos. [You'll see what I mean when you try it.]
Excellent photographic evidence of the transformation of Vancouver
in the last 25 years...
Source:
City of Vancouver website

The
Rise and Fall of Welfare Time Limits in BC (PDF - 294K, 37 pages)June
2008By Bruce Wallace and Tim RichardsThe Rise
and Fall of Welfare Time Limits in BC documents the fascinating story behind
the first attempt in Canadian history by a government to introduce welfare time
limits. Under this policy, recipients who had been on assistance two years would
be cut off of benefits for the ensuing three years. This report documents the
dynamics of the opposition to time-limited welfare which led the government to
capitulate on this element of its welfare reforms. In addition to the public record,
it draws extensively on over 1,000 pages of internal government materials obtained
through a Freedom of Information request.

Excerpt:
"...it is profoundly important that the welfare time limits policy failed.
It is important for the individuals who faced homelessness and hunger as a
consequence of welfare time limits, important as an affirmation of basic societal
values, and important to demonstrate to other provincial governments that
time-limited welfare is not politically viable. We hope that the results of
this social experiment in BC will help ensure that other provinces
do not attempt to adopt similarly destructive policies."

Vancouver Community NetworkVancouver Community Network (VCN) is a non-profit Internet
service provider that provides free services to assist individuals, community
groups and non-profit organizations in accessing and utilizing the Internet
to its fullest ability. We believe the information, resources and opportunities
on the Internet should be accessible to all! We work to expand public access
to computers and the Internet, provide educational services for their effective
use and promote local content on the web.

Welfare payments to be loaded on to debit cards for
20,000(dead link)
February 01,
2008The B.C. government plans to issue direct-debit cards to more than 20,000
welfare recipients who don't have a bank account. Each month, Victoria will load
the welfare payments on to the debit cards, which can be used at any ATM or commercial
outlet. (...) The direct-deposit program started in 2006 and has about 60,000
clients out of a possible 80,000.

<...and,
if the writers of This Hour has 22 Minutes were writing the next line of
the above news release, it would read : "Minister Richmond is pleased to
report that the initial response to the direct deposit incentive has been quite
positive among those Income assistance clients who would prefer to not freeze
their feet, head and hands this winter.">

Plight of poor in B.C. a shame(dead
link)
By Mariann Burka
March 6, 2012
Re: Families' buying power eroding, Feb. 28
I am ashamed to read in the Dietitians of Canada report that British Columbians
on income assistance, and many low-income wage earners, are unable to meet
basic nutritional needs. Although governments of all stripes claim to put
children and families first, B.C. has a disgraceful record with the highest
child poverty rate in Canada for eight years. While the cost of food has risen
substantially, income assistance support allowances for food have not increased
since 2001. How can anyone say rates are adequate? Research has shown that
poverty has long-term consequences for both individuals and society. Hungry
or undernourished children do not learn or develop as well mentally or physically.
It is also difficult finding a job when you are skipping meals or worrying
about feeding your kids. As tax-payers, we also pay with lower educational
achievement, lower economic productivity, higher health care costs and increased
crime and policing costs. I applaud the dietitians for their report and recommendations.
It is time we joined other provinces in establishing a clear poverty-reduction
strategy and, as a first step, let's update our income-assistance rates to
reflect the true cost of living.
[ Author Mariann Burka is former director of the BC Employment and Assistance
Program (social assistance).]

The above letter to the editor of the Vancouver
Sun
was written in response to the following article:

Families' buying power eroding:
47 per cent of income needed to eat well: report (dead
link)
By Randy Shore
February 28, 2012
A family of four on income assistance in B.C. would have to spend 47 per cent
of its income to buy the minimum amount of food needed to remain healthy,
according to a new report by the Dietitians of Canada B.C. region. Cost
of Eating in British Columbia 2011, released
today, puts the monthly cost of a basic food basket for a typical family,
without any takeout meals or prepackaged foods, at an average of $868.43 across
B.C

Surrey MLA Brar pledges to live on $0
a month (dead link)
In an attempt to draw attention to meagre welfare rates in the province,
the MLA for Surrey-Fleetwood is pledging to live on $610 for a monthBy Doug Ward
November 28, 2011
VANCOUVER  Twenty-five years after NDP member of the B.C. legislature
Emery Barnes spent seven weeks living as if he was on welfare, B.C. politician
Jagrup Brar has volunteered to repeat the experiment for a month."I want
to experience first-hand what life is like for the 180,000 British Columbians
who live on welfare," said Brar, who will live on $610, the current welfare
rate, for the month of January.The 52-year-old former member of India's national
basketball team said Monday he plans to live in single-room-occupancy hotels
in Surrey, B.C.'s Whalley area and in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Brar
is taking up the challenge by the anti-poverty group Raise
the Rates for members of the provincial legislature to live on the welfare
rate for a month. Raise the Rates also issued the dare to the B.C. Liberal
caucus, but got no takers.
Source:Vancouver Sun

---

B.C. welfare payments are adequate
For the most part, they line up with basic needs;
where they don't, for employable singles, there is a reason(dead link)
January 26, 2012
By Niels Veldhuis, Amela Karabegovic, and Milagros Palacios
The authors are economists with the Fraser Institute - http://www.fraserinstitute.org/

Going for gold on minimum wages(dead link)By Marjorie Griffin Cohen and Iglika Ivanova
January 20, 2010
As we prepare to cheer for our athletes during the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic
Games, it's worth remembering the fields in which B.C. isn't going for the
gold. Ensuring that work is a guaranteed way out of poverty, for example.
It's a little-known fact, but "the best place on Earth" is now home
of the lowest minimum wages in Canada. Our minimum wage has been frozen at
$8 per hour (and an embarrassingly low $6 for the first 500 hours of work)
since 2001, and there is little indication that this is about to change any
time soon.

B.C. increases budget for welfare, kindergarten
and forest fires(dead link)
By Rebecca teBrake
September 1, 2009
The provincial government will spend more on welfare, kindergarten and forest
fires despite announcing $3.4 billion in spending cuts. Tuesdays budget
update was a sombre affair for the most part, with Finance Minister Colin
Hansen announcing a $2.8-billion deficit and $3.4 billion in budget cuts over
the next three years. But the province will increase spending to the tune
of $1.1 billion in priority areas including welfare, emergency homeless shelters,
prosecutions, forest fires, municipal infrastructure, treaties, tourism and
kindergarten.NOTE: for links to the September 2009 BC Budget
Update and analysis of those measures,
go to the 2009 Canadian Government Budgets Links page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/budgets.htm

---

Children of Poverty: 14 years later(dead link)
April 11, 2008
Fourteen years ago, reporter Larry Pynn co-authored a 12-page special report
in the Vancouver Sun about poverty in Vancouver and in British Columbia. In
this new series, Pynn revisits two of the children whose circumstances he
had profiled 14 years earlier, Ayla and Kandice ). This special report also
includes perspectives on teen parents and youth issues in Terrace, along with
the two following items that I wanted to flag in particular:

Full 12-page section Children of Poverty from May 7, 1994
(PDF - 17.5 MB) (dead link)
- well worth the download time --- 12 pages of valuable historical information
on poverty and government programs in BC in 1994!

Opposing signs on downtown eastside: (dead
link)
Booming economic activity of construction towers
over a community of the homeless, the mentally ill and the addicted
By Larry Pynn
April 11, 2008
Fewer poor people but deeper poverty, say BC social advocacy champions Jean
Swanson and Michael Goldberg.
[Scroll to the bottom of the article for the B.C. Child and Youth Advocacy
Coalition's ten-step plan to alleviate child poverty in BC]

Related link:

First Call: B.C. Child and Youth Advocacy CoalitionFirst Call is
a coalition of individuals and organizations whose purpose is to create greater
understanding of and advocacy for legislation, policy, and practice to ensure
that all children and youth have the opportunities and resources required to achieve
their full potential and to participate in the challenges of creating a better
society.

Speaking of Michael Goldberg...

Brief
to the Senate on Urban Child Poverty (2008) (PDF - 187K, 14 pages)
In February 2008, First Call Chair Michael Goldberg presented to the Senate
Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology on the topic of urban
child poverty. This briefing is an overview of topics including measuring
poverty; child poverty rates; and the interaction between market income, social
security benefits, taxation and statutory deductions, and income tested social
programs.

Vancouver
Youth Outreach Team (City of Vancouver)The
Youth Outreach Team is made up of youth, hired on as city staff to move forward
the Civic Youth Strategy, the City of Vancouver's 1995 policy commitment to supporting
youth and involving them in decision making. Hiring youth as staff in 2003 was
a new step for the municipality. With youth staffs dedicated to improving youth
involvement in the municipality, the City can now tap into their expertise and
connections in the community to move forward the four goals of the Civic
Youth Strategy:- Ensure that youth have "A PLACE" in the City-
Ensure a strong youth VOICE in decision-making- Promote youth AS A RESOURCE
to the City- Strengthen the SUPPORT BASE for youth in the City

The
Youth Outreach Team is a model of youth engagement for the Civic Youth Strategy.
The primary role of the Team is to increase the meaningful participation of youth
in municipal decision making by:* Providing expertise to City staff around
youth engagement to programs and projects that have a mandate to engage citizens
including youth* Acting as a bridge between City staff, youth (ages 13-24)
and youth organizations* Functioning as "guides" for youth to access
the municipal system* Convening youth and City staff to address issues or
working on projects of mutual interest

Editorial:
[Welfare] Assistance rates shame our province
August 30, 2011
(...) Benefit levels are set by the government to ensure a life of desperate
poverty. A single disabled person receives up to $375 a month for shelter.
(MLAs can claim up to $1,580 a month for a second home in the capital.) Imagine
what kind of accommodation is available for that amount in this region, and
living in those conditions with terminal cancer. The
government provides $531 a month for all other expenses - food, non-prescription
medications, utilities, clothes and everything else. That is, at most, $18
a day. (...) For a parent with one child, the province provides $570 for accommodation
and $672 for everything else. (...) Certainly, income assistance rates should
encourage people to seek employment. Some might argue that those on welfare
are paying the price for bad choices. But people do
not choose to become disabled. Children do not choose to be born into poverty.
And B.C.'s assistance rates are so inadequate as to be destructive. The
rates have been increased once since 1994, in 2007. That is also a mark of
government indifference to the plight of some of the province's poorest people.Source:Victoria Times-Colonist

Related link:

Raise
the Rates
Raise the Rates is a coalition of over 20 organizations from around BC concerned
with the level of poverty and homelessness in British Columbia and campaigns
for policies that will end poverty.

Poverty ideas abound --- will is the issue(dead link)
By Les Leyne
May 27, 2010
Expectations rose so high so fast after a legislature committee agreed to
hold a public meeting on poverty that the chair felt the need to dampen the
anticipation. Liberal MLA Joan McIntyre told participants at a day-long thinkfest
last Friday that the session was just to foster awareness. "I wanted
to also clarify that developing a strategy or even providing a written analysis
does go beyond our terms of reference and crosses over into the realm of government
policy-making," she said.
(...)
Steve Kerstetter, a researcher for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives,
told MLAs: "If the goal is to redirect other money to fight poverty,
it's just not going to work. There's just not enough money you can redirect
that's going to make a difference." By one estimate, there's a $2-billion
poverty gap that needs to be filled by society as a whole, he said. And government
redistribution just won't get it done.

Campbell turns back on kids(dead link)
June 27, 2009
What is Premier Gordon Campbell thinking? The province, according to Statistics
Canada, has had the highest rate of child poverty in Canada for the past six
years. The problems are increasing as more people lose their jobs. Yet Campbell
has refused to meet with the Representative for Children and Youth to discuss
ways of improving the lives of poor children.Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond asked
for a joint meeting with Campbell and NDP Leader Carole James. The situation
is urgent, she said, and should be above partisan politics. The leaders should
co-operate on plans to make things better for children at a tough time. James
said yes. Campbell refused even a meeting.
Source:Victoria Times Colonist

Campbell sees bleak welfare trap --- will he act?(dead link)
By Paul Willcocks,
June 5, 2009
Premier Gordon Campbell has discovered that the province's low welfare rates
are hurting people and communities. A bit late, in terms of the poverty problem,
but still welcome. Or it would be, if there was a clearer sense that the government
is prepared to do something about it. (...) It's important to head off a flood
of out-of-work people falling on to welfare, he said. The federal government
should reach a deal with B.C. The province will chip in what it would have
spent on welfare for each person; the federal government should add money
to that and keep them on employment insurance for up to two years. Why? Campbell
made the case in an op-ed column in the Globe and Mail [see the G&M link
below]. "Income assistance is clearly the last social safety net into
which any worker wants to fall," he wrote. "Not only are the monthly
benefits often less than those payable under EI, but those who are forced
to go on welfare risk entering a cycle of dependency that is tough on families,
communities and our economy."
Source:Victoria Times Colonist

Contracting social services a risky bet
Huge U.S. firm taking over back-to-work programs for the disabled (dead link)By Jody Paterson
September 21, 2007
For better or worse, the bulk of B.C.'s back-to-work programs for people with
disabilities are now under the control of a large, aggressive American corporation.
The ink is barely dry on the Aug. 3 agreement that saw the sale of the local
company that has run the programs up until now -- WCG International -- to
Arizona's Providence Service Corp. So it's much too soon to speculate whether
clients will notice any difference, or to assume that it's automatically a
bad thing when one more big U.S. company takes over yet another aspect of
B.C.'s human services. But man, I get cold shivers down my spine when I think
about how easily British Columbians are giving this stuff up, all of it without
a whisper of public debate. Providence in particular is a heavy-duty acquisitor
of government social-service contracts, and delighted to be gaining its first
foothold in Canada.

The Province of Ontario also has a contract with WCG
International (JobsNow). So where's that one going, one wonders...
This is disconcerting to me, because the bottom line in the corporate sector
is generally profit margin first, client's best interest second - and often
a distant second. As noted in the above Times Colonist article, for companies
like Providence there's a financial interest in maintaining poverty and suffering
and that's just not right. Simply put, governments
that outsource human services to the private sector are shirking their responsibilities
to their most disadvantaged citizens. Period.

Vital Signshttp://www.vitalsignscanada.ca/en/home
Vital Signs is a community check-up conducted by community foundations
across Canada. It measures the vitality of our communities, identifies major
trends, and assigns grades in a range of areas critical to our quality of
life. Vital Signs is coordinated nationally by Community Foundations of Canada.
More than 30 community foundations are involved in Vital Signs program 
either producing a report or acting on the findings of previous reports.

Canadas Vital Signs 2012 digs deep into youth
issueshttp://www.vitalsignscanada.ca/en/news-342-canada-s-vital-signs-2012-digs-deep-into
September 18, 2012
Each fall Community Foundations of Canada releases its national Vital Signs
report, and youth issues have consistently been flagged every year since its
inception in 2006. We know education, employment, health and technology are
among the huge concerns facing Canadas young people. Thats why
were dedicating Canadas Vital Signs 2012 to youth, making connections
between research in various areas to provide a critical snapshot of the issues
facing Canadian youth at this point in our history

Vital Signs 2012 : National Findingshttp://www.vitalsignscanada.ca/en/research?tags=32
* Work: Employment Rate (15 years of age and older)
* Getting Started: Youth (15 to 24 years of age) Unemployment Rate
* Health: Proportion of Babies with Low Birth Weight
* Environment: Total Average Daily Flow of Water for Residential Use
* Canadians who are charged a meter rate based on volume seem to use much
less water
* Gap Between Rich and Poor: Elderly (65 years of age and older) Poverty Rate
* Housing: Percentage of Households Spending 30% or More of Income on Housing
* Canadians who allocate a high proportion of their income for housing are
more vulnerable to an abrupt change in financial circumstances
* Learning: Aboriginal Canadian High School Completion Rates
* Arts and Culture: Circulation of Library Items per Capita
* Belonging and Leadership: Charitable Donors as a Proportion of Tax Filers
* Safety: Total Violent Criminal Code Violations per 100,000 People

Wellbeing thru Inclusion Socially and Economically
(WISE)(dead link)
"WISE began in the summer of 2003, as one woman's vision. In exasperation
with a system that seemed to have no heart, "Chris" wrote her story
of painful marginalization. With the urging of friends, the story came to
the attention of an understanding Programs Officer at Status of Women Canada.
Together, they convinced Chris to write a proposal for a project on women's
poverty, and once accepted, the rest, as they say, is history. WISE is now
a grassroots BC-registered nonprofit society whose mission is to organize,
represent, act on behalf of, and join together with persons in British Columbia
whose lives are negatively affected by policies of exclusion."

'Invisible Women' Tell Their Stories (dead
link)
November 13, 2004
Vancouver Sun - by Stephen Hume
"A unique project in the Cowichan Valley
aims to empower them and end their sense of isolation"

"WISE recently released its Phase 1 report on a project
whose focus was exploring the links between policy, poverty and health. The
project had the twofold purpose of collecting stories from women living in
the Cowichan Valley whose incomes are below Canadas poverty line and
providing a vehicle for these women to raise their concerns and offer recommendations
for constructive change. The Phase 1 report detailed the dominant issues in
the stories. Among its findings: The #1 effect of the womens poverty
was an alarming deterioration of their emotional wellbeing or mental health.

Now WISE has collected the 21 stories into a book Policies of Exclusion,
Poverty and Health: Stories from the Front, which also includes the Phase
1 and Phase 2 (storytellers recommendations) reports. Because two thirds
of the Phase 2 report has our women in poverty talking to other women in poverty
about what to do to mobilize, galvanize, and politicize, we urge
organizations who have contact with women in poverty to get a copy of the
book to share with them.

The book has gone to press and will be available for shipping by mid-December.
Proceeds will go directly to the storyteller group to help them act on the
second stage of their recommendations.

------------------------

Policies of Exclusion, Poverty and Health : Stories from
the Front
Project Report : Phase 1 - The Issues (PDF file - 498K, 23 pages)(dead link)
October 2004
"This report outlines the findings from 21 stories which were collected
during Phase I of WISE's project "Policies of Exclusion, Poverty and
Health: Stories from the Front." Its companion report, Phase II - The
Recommendations, will be available shortly. There were three criteria for
eligibility: i) the participant must be female, ii) her household income must
fall below the Low Income Cut Offs (2003) and iii) she must live in the Cowichan
Valley, a geographical region on Vancouver Island that encompasses small urban
and rural communities."
- details the issues (predictors, and the primary and secondary conditions
and effects) that feature dominantly in participants' stories.

BC auditor confirms that province's homeless programs
"not successful"(dead link)
March 6, 2009
By Michael Shapcott
John Doyle, the British Columbia auditor, has just released a sobering
review of homelessness programs that concludes that the provincial government
has not been successful in reducing homelessness. Clear goals and objectives
for homelessness and adequate accountability for results remain outstanding.
Government also lacks adequate information about the homeless and about the
services already available to them  this hampers effective decision
making. Finally, government has not yet established appropriate indicators
of success to improve public accountability for results. The auditors
report echoes many of the themes raised by the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing in the final report on his fact-finding
mission to Canada (See the links immediately below), which will be tabled
at the UN Human Rights Council on Monday. The auditor calls for a much more
thorough and pragmatic plan to end homelessness in British Columbia, and notes
that many other jurisdictions have already adopted solid plans.Wellesley Institute Blog
[ Wellesley Institute ]

Westcoast
Indie News (blog)Independent media, information and community events
from a more diverse social justice perspective.

West Coast LEAF
(Legal Education and Action Fund)
"West Coast LEAF was founded in 1985 at the same time as National LEAF,
by a group of women who wished to create an organization to carry on the work
of the national Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) in British
Columbia. Both organizations were strategically started when the equality
guarantees of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into force,
in order to change historical patterns of systemic discrimination against
women. West Coast LEAF is the largest branch of National LEAF outside of Ontario.
In addition, West Coast LEAF is an incorporated non-profit society in British
Columbia and a federally registered charity."

B.C. gets barely passing grade
on womens equality from Vancouver legal group(dead
link)
October 18, 2012
In a report released today, the West Coast Womens Legal Education and
Action Fund gave a score of C- in its assessment of how B.C. is measuring
up to obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of
all Forms of Discrimination Against Women [ http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/
].

---

Women's Rights and Freedoms:
20 Years (In) Equality - Conference
April 28, 2005 - May 1, 2005
Vancouver, BC
National conference hosted by the West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund
(West Coast LEAF) and the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL).
The Conference will be bilingual and will strive towards accessibility. The
focus of the Conference will be the 20th anniversary of the equality requirements
(Section 15) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Section 15, which
is part of the supreme law of Canada, prohibits discrimination by Government
on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age,
disability, sexual orientation, and other grounds. The Conference will include
discussions on how the Charter affects women and our rights. The Conference
is expected to provide information on the law and discrimination, as well
as a unique opportunity to meet, strategize and share information with activists,
community workers, lawyers, and others from across the country about what
actions we can take to advance women's rights.

Legal
Aid and Family Law: Womens Access to JusticeAffidavit Campaign 2003
Coordinated by West Coast LEAF (British Columbia)
"As part of our efforts to restore legal aid in B.C, West Coast LEAF
will launch an Affidavit Campaign this summer to collect convincing evidence
from across the province that reflects the true impacts of the cuts to legal
aid programs on women and others most affected. The majority of those affected
include women, single mothers, and people with disabilities. Our goal is to
make a case for the restoration of the services through law reform efforts
or via test case litigation."
Source : West Coast LEAF (Legal
Education and Action Fund)
[The LEAF site includes info organized under the following topics : About
Us - Educational Programs - Issues - In The Courts - Law Reform - Fundraising
- Resources - Contact]

Source:
West Coast Womens Legal Education and Action Fundhttp://www.westcoastleaf.org/
West Coast LEAFs mission is to achieve equality by changing historic
patterns of discrimination against women through BC based equality rights
litigation, law reform, and public legal education

Women's Economic Justice Project(dead
link)
("In July 2005 the Women's Livable Income Working Group (c/o SWAG) began
an 18 month project funded by Status of Women Canada to examine how women
would benefit from a Guaranteed Livable Income.")

Womens Economic Justice Project:
An Examination of How Women Would Benefit from a
Guaranteed Livable Income (British Columbia)

(dead link)
April 2006 Revised June 2006
"The report documents discussions that formed a sort of grassroots women's
think tank to examine the benefits, particularly to women, of a Guaranteed
Livable Income. The project intended to look beyond current, and almost universally
dominant, proposed solutions to poverty -- economic growth, jobs, daycare
and welfare."

Working
TV "working TV is a labour television program broadcast weekly
on community access television in the province of British Columbia, Canada. (...)
We are primarily a labour show, focusing on union issues. This derives from our
original mandate: to counter the marginalization and censorship of labour by mainstream
television broadcasters, with labour positive programming produced by working
people, for working people."

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